BV  1  585  . S7  5 

Stout,  John  Elbert,  1867- 
The  daily  vacation  church 
schoo 1 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/dailyvacationchuOOstou 


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®fje  Sbingban  &eltgtong  education  ®extsi 


IDaliiti  <©.  Botanrr,  (general  (Stittor 

DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL  SERIES. 
GEORGE  HERBERT  BETTS,  Editor 


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The  Daily  Vacation 
Church  School 


How  to  Organize  and  Conduct  It 


BY 

JOHN  E.  STOUT 

and 

JAMES  V.  THOMPSON 

Prepared  in  Cooperation  with  the 
International  Association  of  Daily  Vacation  Bible  Schools 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
JOHN  E.  STOUT 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


First  Edition  Printed  June,  1923 
Reprinted  May,  1924 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction .  5 

Editor’s  Foreword. .  7 

I.  Origin  and  Development  of  the  Vaca¬ 
tion  School .  9 

II.  What  Should  Vacation  Schools  Seek 

to  Do? .  15 

III.  Preparing  the  Church  and  Community 

for  the  Vacation  School .  26 

IV.  Setting  Up, the  Organization .  35 

V.  Planning  the  Budget  and  Securing 

Financial  Support .  49 

VI.  Providing  Housing,  Equipment,  and 

Supplies .  54 

VII.  Choosing  the  Curriculum .  66 

VIII.  Planning  the  Daily  Program .  71 

IX.  Conducting  the  School  Session .  82 

X.  Relating  the  School  to  Home, 

Church,  and  Community .  98 

XI.  Standards  and  Measurements  of 

Success .  109 


INTRODUCTION 


“A  little  child  shall  lead  them”  is  the  inspired 
phrase  expressing  the  fundamental  basis  of  the  new 
science  of  religious  education.  This  study  and 
service  of  the  child  is  leading  the  church  and  the 
community  into  an  interpretation  and  application 
of  the  Christian  religion,  which  is  renewing  the  life 
of  the  church  and  insuring  its  future,  not  only  in 
the  realm  of  education  but  in  the  social  and  polit¬ 
ical  life  of  the  nation. 

The  vacation  week-day  church  school  represents 
a  combination  of  vital  elements  in  a  program 
which  has  demonstrated  its  usefulness  and  perma¬ 
nence  not  only  in’ North  America  but  also  on  the 
foreign  mission  fields.  Children  naturally  respond 
to  rhythm,  worship,  stories,  dramatics,  handcraft 
and  loyalty.  These  elements  are  presented  in 
vacation  schools  through  the  period  of  worship, 
the  songs  and  marches,  the  Bible  stories  and  dram¬ 
atization,  the  expressional  activities  and  the  salute 
to  the  American  and  the  Christian  flags.  Led  by 
the  need  of  the  children,  the  promoters  and  teachers 
have  used  this  program  in  an  ever-increasing  num¬ 
ber  of  schools,  reaching  a  total  of  over  half  a  mil¬ 
lion  boys  and  girls. 

The  modern  church,  with  its  departments  of  wor¬ 
ship,  service  and  religious  education,  is  rapidly 
developing  everywhere  the  idea  of  the  church 
school,  with  its  Sunday  session,  or  Sunday  school; 
its  week-day  session,  related  to  the  public  school 

5 


INTRODUCTION 


system;  and  its  vacation  session,  for  special  em¬ 
phasis  during  the  summer  season.  The  daily  vaca¬ 
tion  church  school,  therefore,  is  rapidly  being 
incorporated  as  a  vital  segment  of  the  annual  pro¬ 
gram  of  a  successful  church. 

The  final  chapter  of  this  book  might  well  be 
read  first,  in  order  that  its  challenge  should  stim¬ 
ulate  the  reader  to  study  the  other  chapters  more 
closely.  The  contents  are  most  comprehensive  in 
the  treatment  of  what  is  involved  in  the  promotion, 
organization,  conduct,  standards  and  results  of  a 
vacation  school.  No  field  offers  more  unlimited 
opportunities  for  the  devout  Christian  educator  to 
render  effective  service  than  the  standardization  of 
the  vacation  school,  the  building  up  of  its  curric¬ 
ulum  and  the  production  of  its  text  books.  The 
authors  of  this  book  have  already  demonstrated 
their  ability  to  deal  with  the  methods  and  prob¬ 
lems  of  religious  education.  Professor  Stout  has 
made  a  fundamental  study  of  the  organization  and 
administration  of  religious  education  in  general. 
Mr.  Thompson  has  had  a  wide  and  successful  expe¬ 
rience  as  a  teacher,  as  a  background  for  his  recent 
activities  in  the  realm  of  organized  Christian  work 
among  young  people.  In  this  book  they  have 
together  interpreted  and  reduced  to  practice  the 
experience  of  thousands  of  vacation  school  teachers 
and  workers,  with  the  result  that  all  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  daily  vacation  church  school 
will  be  instructed  and  stimulated  by  reading  and 
studying  this  volume. 

Thomas  St.  Clair  Evans. 


6 


EDITOR’S  FOREWORD 


The  daily  vacation  church  school  is  here  to  stay. 
That  this  is  true  may  be  assumed  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  situation;  for  it  is  incredible  that  the 
church,  awakening  as  it  is  to  the  unparalleled  fruit¬ 
fulness  of  the  educational  method  in  religion,  will 
ever  again  allow  the  loss  of  so  much  precious  time 
as  ordinarily  goes  to  waste  in  the  long  vacation 
period  of  the  public  schools.  That  the  vacation 
church  school  is  here  to  stay  is  also  evidenced  by 
its  constant  increase,  during  the  last  decade  in 
numbers  and  efficiency  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

This  rather  sudden  rise  of  what  is  virtually  a 
new  organization  within  the  church  places  upon 
the  parent  institution  great  responsibilities,  which 
it  is  struggling  earnestly  to  meet.  At  the  present 
time  the  Protestant  churches  in  this  country  num¬ 
ber  their  vacation  schools  by  thousands,  and  the 
number  is  rapidly  increasing.  Such  schools,  differ¬ 
ing  as  they  must  from  the  Sunday  school,  lack 
precedent  to  direct  them;  they  are  without  central 
organizations  within  the  denominations  for  their 
guidance;  they  must  define  their  aims,  create  their 
curriculum,  build  their  program,  set  up  their  stand¬ 
ards,  determine  their  methods,  provide  their  teachers 
and  administrators.  Surely  a  major  task  among 
the  great  enterprises  now  engaging  the  attention 
of  the  church. 

To  help  on  these  crucial  points  is  the  purpose  of 
the  present  volume.  Written  as  it  is  by  authors 

7 


EDITOR’S  FOREWORD 


thoroughly  trained  in  the  principles  of  educational 
method  as  used  by  the  church,  and  richly  expe¬ 
rienced  in  the  practical  administration  of  religious 
education  in  church  schools,  the  book  contains  a 
maximum  of  concrete  and  practical  helpfulness. 

The  volume  is  designed  primarily  for  organizers 
and  administrators.  Its  valuable  information,  fruit¬ 
ful  suggestions,  definite  directions,  and  proved 
principles  should  also  be  made  a  part  of  the  equip¬ 
ment  of  every  vacation  school  teacher.  Pastors 
can  well  afford  to  consider  the  point  of  view  of  its 
pages  in  planning  the  program  of  their  church. 
Directors  of  religious  education  will  welcome  its 
ripe  wisdom. 

Two  definite  lines  of  direction  are  being  taken 
in  the  development  of  the  vacation  church  school 
movement  :  one ,  the  strictly  denominational  type 
of  school  run  by  a  single  local  church  or  by  two 
or  more  adjacent  churches  of  the  same  denom¬ 
ination  uniting  for  the  enterprise;  the  other ,  the 
interdenominational  type,  conducted  jointly  by  a 
number  of  churches  of  a  community  without  regard 
to  denominations.  The  present  volume  is  strictly 
non-denominational  in  plan  and  purpose,  and  the 
principles  and  programs  it  sets  forth  are  equally 
applicable  to  churches  of  all  denominations,  whether 
acting  singly  or  in  conjunction  with  other  churches. 

George  H.  Betts. 


8 


CHAPTER  I 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE 
VACATION  SCHOOL 

Vacation  church  schools  are  comparatively  new. 
Though  they  have  recently  had  a  very  rapid  growth 
and  are  rendering  a  great  service  to  thousands  of 
children,  they  are  still  unknown  in  most  churches 
and  communities.  Each  year  since  their  beginning 
an  increasing  number  of  schools  have  been  held. 
Such  schools  should  be  established  in  many  churches 
and  communities  which  do  not  now  have  them. 
Much  can  be  done  in  accomplishing  this  if  their 
benefits  are  made  known  and  intelligent  effort  made 
to  secure  the  cooperation  of  churches  in  establish¬ 
ing  them. 

Origin  of  vacation  church  schools. — These  schools 
were  first  established  about  twenty  years  ago.  As 
already  said,  an  increasing  number  have  been  held 
each  year  since  that  time.  In  making  a  study  of 
their  origin  and  rapid  growth  one  is  reminded  of 
the  rise  and  early  development  of  the  Sunday 
school.  Both  types  of  schools  were  founded  in 
response  to  a  very  real  need.  Each  demonstrated 
at  once  that  it  was  ministering  in  a  most  whole¬ 
some  way  to  children  who  were  not  being  adequately 
cared  for  by  other  agencies.  In  each  case,  the 
success  of  the  first  schools  to  be  set  up  was  appar¬ 
ent  and  a  few  other  communities  hastened  to  estab¬ 
lish  them.  Later  the  growth  became  more  rapid 
and  now  the  Sunday  school  enrolls  many  millions 

9 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


of  children.  Enrollment  last  year  in  the  vacation 
schools,  from  the  small  beginning  of  twenty  years 
ago,  had  increased  to  approximately  five  hundred 
thousand  in  this  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
number  enrolled  in  foreign  countries. 

The  early  vacation  schools  in  their  origin  remind 
us  also  of  the  early  Pestalozzian  schools.  Pestalozzi, 
the  great  Swiss  educator,  established  his  first  school 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  children  in  his  village. 
They  were  idle  and  were  not  properly  cared  for  by 
the  homes  or  other  agencies  of  the  village.  Pestalozzi 
gathered  these,  about  twenty  in  number,  into  his 
own  home  and  thus  began  one  of  the  greatest  edu¬ 
cational  movements  in  the  entire  history  of  educa¬ 
tion.  It  might  well  be  said  that  this  great  movement 
had  its  beginning  in  the  love  of  this  man  for  chil¬ 
dren  and  his  desire  to  be  of  service  to  them.  He 
said  he  wanted  to  “psychologize  education.”  By 
this  he  meant  that  he  wished  to  adapt  the  means 
and  methods  of  education  to  the  needs  and  capaci¬ 
ties  of  children.  Pestalozzian  schools,  as  they  were 
called,  developed  rapidly  in  several  European  coun¬ 
tries,  and  the  movement  had  a  profound  influence 
upon  the  elementary  schools  of  our  own  country. 

It  cannot  be  said,  of  course,  at  this  time  that 
vacation  schools  will  have  any  such  world-wide 
development  as  the  Sunday  school  and  the  Pesta¬ 
lozzian  schools  have  had.  Time  alone  will  tell 
whether  any  such  fame  and  spread  await  them. 
But  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  each  of  these 
types  of  schools  had  its  origin  in  an  attempt  to  meet 
the  needs  of  children — physical,  mental,  and  spiritual 
— who  were  not  being  properly  cared  for  by  other 
agencies. 


io 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  VACATION  SCHOOL 


Returning  to  the  vacation  school,  the  exact  date 
and  place  of  the  first  school  is  in  dispute.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  “192 1  Facts,”  issued  by  the  International 
Association  of  Daily  Vacation  Bible  Schools,  “the 
movement  was  founded  in  New  York  in  1901  by 
the  Rev.  Robert  G.  Boville  .  .  .  whose  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  need  of  bringing  together  idle  children, 
idle  churches,  and  idle  students  for  community 
welfare  on  the  East  Side.”  Mrs.  Stafford,  in  the 
preface  of  her  book  The  Vacation  Religious  Day 
School  (1920),  says:  “The  institution  known  as  the 
religious  day  school  .  .  .  originated  fully  twenty 
years  ago  in  certain  pastors’  classes  held  in  north¬ 
western  Wisconsin,  conducted  by  the  Rev.  H.  R. 
Vaughan,  a  Congregational  minister,  then  located  at 
Elk  Mound.”  It  is  not  improbable  that  each  of 
the  movements  indicated  above  had  an  independent 
origin.  In  any  event,  the  movement  started  by 
Dr.  Boville  early  took  on  a  definite  form  and  spread 
very  rapidly.  Out  of  this  has  developed  a  great 
organization  which  has  been  more  influential  in 
the  progress  of  the  daily  vacation  school  than  any 
other  single  agency  if,  indeed,  not  all  other  agencies 
combined.  In  1907  the  National  Vacation  Bible 
School  Committee  was  formed.  Four  years  later  it 
was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
New  York  as  the  “Daily  Vacation  Bible  School 
Association.”  In  1916,  it  was  reorganized  as  the 
International  Association  of  Daily  Vacation  Bible 
Schools.  This,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  organ¬ 
ization  that  has  been  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
development  of  the  vacation  school  in  this  country 
and  its  spread  to  foreign  countries. 

Present  status  of  the  school. — It  is  not  possible 

11 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


to  state  the  exact  number  of  vacation  schools  held 
last  year.  Estimates  based  upon  the  best  informa¬ 
tion  available  place  the  number  at  about  five 
thousand.  Approximately  five  hundred  thousand 
children  were  enrolled.  Both  the  number  of  schools 
and  enrollment  constitute  convincing  evidence  of 
the  importance  and  vitality  of  the  vacation  school 
movement.  These  figures  do  not,  perhaps,  justify 
us  in  saying  conclusively  that  the  school  is  a  perma¬ 
nent  institution.  But  they  do  enable  us  to  say 
that  it  is  ministering  to  the  needs  of  many  thou¬ 
sands  of  children;  and  further,  if  the  needs  con¬ 
tinue  to  exist  and  the  school  continues  to  meet 
them,  it  seems  entirely  reasonable  to  assume  that 
its  permanency  is  assured. 

Space  does  not  permit  us  to  discuss  in  detail  the 
present  status.  Only  a  few  facts  will  be  pointed 
out.  No  uniformity  exists  in  length  of  term.  It 
ranges,  in  general,  from  two  to  six  weeks.  There 
are,  perhaps,  a  few  schools  holding  longer  terms. 
Four  or  five  weeks  probably  constitute  the  average. 
Lack  of  uniformity  also  exists  in  the  matter  of 
daily  time  schedule.  Some  schools  hold  only  a 
brief  session  consisting  of  one  or  two  hours  each 
day;  others  continue  throughout  the  forenoon;  and 
still  others  hold  both  forenoon  and  afternoon  ses¬ 
sions.  In  the  matter  of  suitability  of  buildings  and 
equipment,  great  differences  are  found.  Where 
public  school  buildings  are  used,  favorable  condi¬ 
tions  usually  exist.  In  case  churches  are  used,  the 
contrary  is  generally  true.  On  the  whole,  when 
buildings  other  than  public  schools  or  churches  are 
used,  their  equipment  is  inadequate. 

Many  individual  exceptions  to  these  statements 


12 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  VACATION  SCHOOL 


concerning  buildings  and  equipment  no  doubt 
exist,  but  in  the  large  majority  of  cases,  what  has 
been  said  holds  true.  Nothing  can  be  said  here 
concerning  curriculum  except  that  there  is  a  wide 
range  of  difference  in  ideals,  the  subject  matter 
taught,  and  activities  carried  on.  The  financial 
support  given  to  the  schools  is  in  general  much 
below  what  it  should  be.  Far  too  many  schools 
have  practically  no  funds  provided,  and  a  large 
number  of  others  have  such  meager  support  that 
they  must  of  necessity  lack  the  necessary  equip¬ 
ment  and  supplies.  In  general,  teachers  lack  train¬ 
ing  and  experience,  and  supervision  is  wholly  in¬ 
adequate. 

The  future  of  vacation  schools. — The  foregoing 
brief  discussion  of  present  status  should  not  be 
interpreted  as  any  reflection  upon  the  good  work 
being  done  by  many  schools.  Taking  into  account 
the  limitation  under  which  they  carry  on  their 
work,  very  satisfactory  results  are  being  accom¬ 
plished.  The  value  of  the  service  they  are  render¬ 
ing  should  not  be  underestimated.  But  the  fact 
remains  that  a  large  number  of  schools  are  carrying 
on  their  work  under  very  serious  handicap.  Per¬ 
manent  success  for  these  schools  is  highly  improb¬ 
able  unless  conditions  are  made  more  favorable. 
For  example,  funds  adequate  to  the  actual  needs 
of  the  schools  must  be  provided.  A  supply  of  com¬ 
petent  teachers  will  have  to  be  secured.  Better 
standards  for  curriculum  making  are  imperative. 
Length  of  term  should  be  more  uniform,  and  the 
longer  term  rather  than  the  shorter  one  now  in 
vogue  should  become  the  practice.  Adequate  super¬ 
vision  is  absolutely  necessary.  Aims  or  objectives 

T3 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


need  to  be  more  vital  and  more  clearly  defined,  and 
will  have  to  be  worked  out  and  applied  intelligently 
in  determining  the  means  and  methods  employed 
by  the  school.  And,  finally,  provision  must  be  made 
for  testing  results  in  order  to  improve  practice 
through  experience. 

If  these  things  can  be  accomplished  in  reason¬ 
able  degree,  the  vacation  school  will  become  an 
increasingly  useful  agency  in  the  moral  and  spiritual 
upbuilding  of  our  children  and  youth. 


CHAPTER  II 


WHAT  SHOULD  VACATION  SCHOOLS 

SEEK  TO  DO? 

In  the  preceding  chapter  a  brief  sketch  was  given 
of  the  vacation  school  movement.  It  is  evident 
that  some  good  purpose  is  being  accomplished, 
otherwise  these  schools  would  not  continue  year 
after  year  in  the  same  church  and  community. 
New  schools  would  not  continue  to  be  organized 
at  such  a  rapid  rate  if  the  spiritual  need  of  churches 
and  communities  were  not  being  met. 

This  leads  us  to  inquire,  What  are  vacation  schools 
accomplishing?  But  securing  this  information  alone 
is  not  enough.  We  need  also  to  inquire,  What 
should  they  seek  to  do  in  order  to  be  most  useful? 
Perhaps  some  of  them  are  not  as  successful  as  others. 
If  so,  this  may  be  due  to  a  lack  of  information  on 
the  part  of  those  in  charge  concerning  what  the 
schools  should  seek  to  do.  In  any  event,  the  aims 
or  objectives  of  the  vacation  school  should  be  given 
careful  consideration.  This  is  true  of  any  school. 
No  school  is  justified  which  does  not  meet  some  of 
the  educational  needs  of  the  community  which 
supports  it.  And  this  means,  of  course,  that  it 
must  contribute  in  certain  definite  ways  to  the 
welfare  of  childhood  and  youth. 

What  should  a  vacation  school  seek  to  do?  This 
question  cannot  be  finally  answered  in  any  single 
statement.  It  might  be  said,  for  example,  that  it 

15 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


should  seek  to  build  character,  which,  of  course,  is 
true.  But  this  general  statement  alone  is  not 
sufficiently  specific  to  guide  us  in  doing  the  many 
things  required  in  organizing  and  conducting  a 
school.  A  program  will  have  to  be  planned.  This 
means  selecting  subject  matter  to  be  taught  and 
activities  to  be  carried  on.  What  definite  purposes 
shall  we  have  in  mind  when  choosing  subject  matter 
and  activities?  Methods  of  teaching  must  be 
employed  and  devices  used.  Here,  again,  specific 
aims  must  serve  as  guides  in  both  selection  and 
use.  Housing  and  equipment  will  have  to  be 
provided.  How  can  we  know  what  is  needed  unless 
certain  definite  purposes  guide  us?  In  seeking  to 
answer  these  questions,  the  opportunities  peculiar 
to  the  vacation  school  will  be  taken  up  first  and, 
following  that,  a  consideration  of  those  which  it 
has  in  common  with  other  religious  agencies. 

Vacation  time  used  to  good  advantage. — One  of 
the  purposes  of  a  vacation  school  is  to  make  fruit¬ 
ful  use  of  time  that,  without  this  school,  would  be 
wasted  and  even  worse  than  wasted  by  the  children. 
When  the  public  schools  close,  children,  particularly 
in  large  towns  and  cities,  have  nothing  to  do  through¬ 
out  a  long  vacation.  Many  people  think  that  a 
part,  at  least,  of  this  time  should  be  used  for  educa¬ 
tional  purposes.  Not  a  few  public  schools  are  now 
holding  summer  sessions.  Some  of  the  children 
enrolled  make  up  work  in  which  they  have  failed 
during  the  year.  Others  find  it  possible  by  attend¬ 
ing  a  few  weeks  each  summer  to  shorten  the  time 
required  for  completing  their  regular  school  work. 
All  are  given  opportunity  to  find  happy  and  whole¬ 
some  employment  instead  of  being  idle.  It  can  be 

1 6 


WHAT  SHOULD  SCHOOLS  SEEK  TO  DO? 


said,  then,  that  one  of  the  purposes  of  a  vacation 
school  of  any  kind  is  to  make  it  possible  for  chil¬ 
dren  to  use  time  profitably  which  would  otherwise  be 
spent  in  idleness.  The  time  must,  of  course,  be  used 
profitably,  or  the  holding  of  the  school  would  not 
be  justified. 

Buildings  and  equipment  used  that  would  other 
wise  be  idle. — This  is  one  of  the  arguments  used 
for  these  schools,  and  it  seems  to  be  a  reasonable 
one.  Why  should  public  schools,  churches,  and  other 
buildings,  such  as  community  houses  and  parish 
houses,  be  idle  during  the  summer?  Why  should 
they  not  be  used  for  the  good  of  the  children?  Why, 
for  example,  should  the  churches  remain  closed 
throughout  the  week  when  many  of  the  children 
have  no  place  to  carry  on  their  activities  except  in 
the  street?  In  the  aggregate,  large  sums  of  money 
are  invested  in  church  buildings  and  equipment. 
When  these  can  be  made  to  serve  a  good  purpose 
it  is  only  the  part  of  wisdom  to  make  them  do  so. 
This  is  not  the  only  reason  for  maintaining  vacation 
schools  or  even  the  most  important  one,  but  answer¬ 
ing  the  question,  Why  vacation  schools?  it  should 
be  taken  into  account. 

The  health  and  happiness  of  children  promoted. 

— We  have  now  come  to  a  consideration  of  the 
actual  benefits  which  the  children  may  derive  from 
the  school.  It  is  certainly  worth  while  for  the 
church  and  the  community  to  support  any  agency 
that  will  promote  the  physical  welfare  of  the  chil-  1 
dren.  Any  school  which  does  not  do  this  is  not 
worthy  of  support.  No  kind  of  educational  pro¬ 
gram  is  complete  which  does  not  include  some 
provision  for  health  instruction  and  activities.  When 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


we  take  into  account  the  kind  of  homes  from  which 
many  of  the  children  come  who  attend  vacation 
schools,  the  need  of  this  is  apparent.  They  need  to 
be  taught  how  to  care  for  their  bodies.  Bodies  need 
to  be  built  up  and  made  strong  by  play  carried  on 
under  wholesome  conditions.  Cleanliness  needs  to 
be  taught  and  practiced.  Habits  relating  to  the 
care  of  the  body  should  be  developed  through 
repeated  activities  under  proper  direction.  Since  it 
is  one  of  the  purposes  of  all  schools  to  do  these 
things,  vacation  schools  should  also  do  their  part 
in  promoting  the  health  and  physical  welfare  of 
children. 

Whoever  invests  time  or  money  in  making  a  child 
happy  makes  a  good  investment.  Happiness  pro¬ 
motes  the  development  of  the  body.  This  is  em¬ 
phasized  by  physicians  in  the  case  of  young  children 
and  even  babies.  They  urge  mothers  and  nurses 
to  keep  the  children  happy  in  order  that  they  may 
grow  more  rapidly.  Happiness  also  contributes  to 
the  right  kind  of  mental  development.  Lessons  are 
learned  more  easily  and  better  remembered  when 
children  are  happy.  Habits  are  formed  more  rapidly 
when  activities  are  pleasurable.  Spiritual  develop¬ 
ment  in  children  can  hardly  be  expected  if  they  are 
unhappy  in  their  surroundings.  It  is  a  matter 
of  great  importance  that  they  associate  God  and 
Christ,  the  church  and  the  Bible,  the  school  and 
its  work  with  pleasant  experiences.  The  writer 
recalls  the  advice  given  many  years  ago  to  a  teacher 
by  the  director  of  a  country  school.  The  teacher 
was  young  and  inexperienced.  The  director  had 
through  the  years  employed  many  teachers.  On 
the  first  morning  of  the  new  term  he  said  to  the 

18 


WHAT  SHOULD  SCHOOLS  SEEK  TO  DO? 


young  teacher,  “I  have  only  one  thing  to  say  to  you, 
make  the  children  like  school”  This  was  good  advice 
for  any  teacher.  If  children  like  school  we  thereby 
add  greatly  to  their  happiness,  and  they  in  turn 
will  respond  readily  to  the  work  of  the  school. 

As  pointed  out  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  it  is 
very  necessary  that  religion  be  associated  in  the 
mind  of  the  child  with  pleasurable  experiences. 
Otherwise  wrong  attitudes  will  be  developed,  right 
motives  will  not  be  inculcated,  and  right  conduct 
will  not  result.  The  vacation  school  has  an  advan¬ 
tage  over  the  Sunday  school  in  having  more  time 
each  day  at  its  disposal.  It  is,  therefore,  possible 
for  it  to  include  in  its  program  play,  games,  and 
other  forms  of  recreation. 

Development  of  Christian  character  the  real 
objective  of  the  vacation  school. — This  does  not 
mean  that  other  objectives  are  not  worthy.  It  does 
mean  that  any  church  school  which  does  not  result 
in  building  Christian  character  has  failed  to  fulfill 
its  real  purpose.  Time  should  be  devoted  to  this 
end;  buildings  and  equipment  be  dedicated  to  this 
purpose;  and  subject  matter  and  activities  be  used 
for  this  accomplishment.  All  the  activities  of  the 
school  should  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  up¬ 
building  of  the  spiritual  life  of  children.  This  is 
the  inclusive  answer  to  our  question,  What  should 
the  vacation  school  seek  to  do?  Analysis  of  this 
answer  will  now  be  attempted  in  order  to  under¬ 
stand  its  meaning  as  fully  as  possible.  Before 
doing  so  let  us  consider  the  unique  opportunity 
afforded  the  vacation  schools  for  supplementing  the 
work  of  other  schools. 

The  public  school  does  not  teach  religion  and 

19 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


cannot  do  so  under  existing  conditions.  This  is 
no  reflection  upon  the  public  school  as  an  institu¬ 
tion  or  upon  the  fine  Christian  character  of  a  large 
majority  of  public  school  teachers.  It  is  merely 
the  statement  of  a  fact.  The  vacation  school  must 
supplement  the  public  school's  splendid  work  by 
doing  something  which  it  cannot  do.  The  Sunday 
school  is  doing  a  very  valuable  work,  but  here  again 
its  work  needs  to  be  supplemented.  In  the  first 
place  it  is  fair  to  say  that  two  out  of  three  in  the 
average  community  do  not  attend  Sunday  school. 
Many  of  these  children  attend  vacation  schools  in 
communities  where  they  are  maintained.  If  it 
were  not  for  the  vacation  schools  such  children 
would  have  no  opportunity  to  receive  religious 
instruction.  It  should  certainly  be  one  of  our  great 
objectives  to  provide  for  the  religious  nurture  of 
these  children. 

The  vacation  school  can  render  a  great  service 
also  to  the  children  who  do  attend  Sunday  school. 
On  an  average,  they  receive  less  than  thirty  periods 
of  instruction  per  year.  A  vacation  school  con¬ 
ducted  for  five  days  a  week  for  a  period  of  five 
weeks  can  utilize  more  time  than  the  Sunday  school 
in  an  entire  year.  This  is  not  said  in  criticism  of 
the  Sunday  school.  It  is  merely  a  statement  of  fact 
to  point  out  the  great  opportunity  at  the  command 
of  the  vacation  school  which  it  should  utilize  to 
the  fullest  extent  possible.  The  work  of  the  Sunday 
school  is  in  great  need  of  being  supplemented  and 
the  vacation  school  can  in  some  degree,  at  least, 
meet  this  need. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  neglect  of  religious 
instruction  in  the  home,  the  vacation  school  can 


20 


WHAT  SHOULD  SCHOOLS  SEEK  TO  DO? 


render  a  valuable  service.  It  is  very  probable,  if 
indeed  not  quite  certain,  that  many  of  the  children 
enrolled  receive  little  or  no  religious  instruction  in 
their  homes.  In  some  cases,  perhaps  many,  their 
parents  do  not  send  them  to  any  other  school  of 
religious  instruction,  but  they  do  send  them  to 
the  vacation  school.  At  any  rate  they  come  in 
large  numbers.  This  gives  a  great  opportunity  to 
the  vacation  school  and  definitely  places  a  great 
responsibility  upon  it. 

Attention  will  now  be  directed  to  making  the 
analysis  referred  to  in  a  previous  paragraph.  In 
doing  this  it  is  necessary  to  speak  in  terms  of  what 
we  want  the  child  to  acquire  and  become  day  by 
day.  The  more  definite  our  goals  are  in  any  kind 
of  educational  procedure,  the  better  they  serve  us. 
Specific  aims  serve  as  useful  guides  in  making  our 
program,  in  securing  proper  equipment,  and  in 
choosing  methods  and  devices  in  teaching.  What 
are  these  specific  aims  which  are  to  serve  as  guides 
in  the  daily  work  of  the  school? 

First  of  all,  we  want  the  children  to  acquire 
fruitful  knowledge .  By  this  we  mean  knowledge 
that  will  result  in  building  character.  Neither  the 
disposition  to  do  right  nor  ability  to  do  right  can 
arise  out  of  ignorance.  We  should  not  expect  the 
child  to  want  to  do  right  until  he  knows  what  is 
right.  Neither  should  we  expect  him  to  be  able  to 
do  right  until  he  knows  how.  Right  conduct  has  to 
be  learned.  A  little  later  we  shall  see  how  knowl¬ 
edge  gets  over  into  conduct.  It  is  our  purpose  here 
merely  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  one  of  the  things 
we  seek  is  to  have  the  child  acquire  fruitful  knowl¬ 
edge. 


21 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


The  acquiring  of  knowledge  is  one  of  the  clearly 
defined  aims  of  all  modern  education.  Stated  more 
specifically,  the  aim  is  not  knowledge  for  its  own 
sake  but  for  what  it  will  accomplish  in  the  life  of 
the  child.  As  a  result,  public  school  curricula  have 
been  greatly  modified  and  enriched.  Nature  study, 
hygiene,  language,  geography,  and  history  have 
been  added  to  the  three  R’s  of  the  old  elementary 
school.  Information  and  experience  having  to  do 
with  religion  cannot  be  left  out.  Recognizing  this, 
Sunday  school  curricula  are  being  enriched  by  the 
selection  of  subject  matter  better  adapted  to  the 
needs  and  capacities  of  the  child.  Week-day  schools 
of  religious  instruction  are  being  organized  in  many 
places.  In  many  of  these  schools  children  are  using 
textbooks  equal  in  every  respect  to  the  textbooks 
used  in  the  public  schools.  These  facts  are  being 
recited  to  show  that  we  are  placing  increasing  em¬ 
phasis  upon  knowledge  as  an  important  factor  in 
religious  education. 

The  vacation  schools  then,  in  common  with  other 
schools  both  secular  and  religious,  must  provide 
instruction  that  will  result  in  the  child  acquiring 
fruitful  knowledge.  It  occurs  to  us  at  once  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  must  constitute  one  of  the 
aims  of  religious  education.  Unfortunately,  multi¬ 
tudes  of  children  are  growing  up  in  ignorance  of  its 
great  spiritual  truths.  It  is  one  of  the  sources  of 
information  about  God  and  his  dealings  with  his 
children.  But  it  is  not  the  only  source.  Nature 
all  about  reveals  him  if  we  are  made  to  see  aright. 
The  stories  of  the  lives  of  Christian  men  and  women 
so  abundant  in  history  and  literature  are  other 
sources  of  information.  The  lives  of  Livingstone 

22 


WHAT  SHOULD  SCHOOLS  SEEK  TO  DO? 


and  Grenfell  and  countless  other  men,  and  women 
too,  furnish  abundant  material.  It  is  not  our 
purpose  here  to  discuss  subject  matter.  Our  pur¬ 
pose  rather  is  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  a  knowledge 
of  God  and  his  world  and  of  Christ  and  his  teach¬ 
ings,  of  the  lives  of  devoted  Christian  men  and 
women,  must  constitute  one  of  the  main  objectives 
of  the  vacation  school.  Further  discussion  of  the 
knowledge  essential  in  character  building  will  be 
found  in  Chapter  VII. 

Another  thing  we  should  seek  to  accomplish  is  the 
development  of  attitudes ,  interests ,  ideals ,  and  mo¬ 
tives.  These  constitute  one  of  the  results  of  knowl¬ 
edge  gained  and  experience  acquired.  The  child 
is  developing  attitudes  and  interests  of  one  kind  or 
another.  Attitudes  toward  honesty,  reverence, 
truthfulness,  and  loyalty  are  being  formed.  Interests 
are  being  developed  both  in  and  out  of  school. 
Whether  they  are  wholesome  or  otherwise  is  a  matter 
of  great  importance.  The  vacation  school  must 
assume  its  share  of  responsibility  at  this  point. 

Right  ideals  of  duty,  honesty,  truthfulness,  sacri¬ 
fice,  and  of  service,  do  not  just  happen.  Neither  do 
wrong  ideals.  Both  result  from  education,  using 
the  word  in  a  broad  sense.  That  is  to  say,  they  are 
built  up  through  knowledge  gained  and  experience 
acquired.  Unfortunately,  children  too  frequently 
acquire  wrong  ideals  at  home,  on  the  playground, 
in  the  street,  and  sometimes  even  in  the  school. 
They  do  this  because  of  ignorance,  or  wrong  kind 
of  knowledge.  All  too  frequently  children  are  not 
given  a  fair  chance  to  form  right  ideals.  It  is  the 
peculiar  function  of  the  teacher  of  religion  to  see 
that  they  have  a  fair  chance.  Here  again  the  vaca- 

23 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


tion  school  must  assume  its  full  share  of  respon¬ 
sibility.  This  can  be  done  only  by  setting  up  def¬ 
inite  ideals  to  be  cultivated,  and  providing  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  them  to  find  expression  in  daily  living. 
One  of  the  tests  which  determine  whether  knowl¬ 
edge  is  fruitful  is  found  at  this  point.  If  it  does 
not  result  in  right  ideals  and  in  their  proper  expres¬ 
sion,  it  has  failed  in  large  part  in  being  useful  in 
the  life  of  the  child. 

We  are  not,  of  course,  seeking  ideals  merely  as 
ends.  They  must  serve  as  means  in  creating  right 
motives ,  in  order  that  we  may  secure  right  conduct. 
The  peculiar  function  of  religious  education  is  to 
develop  these  motives  and  have  them  carry  over 
into  conduct.  The  vacation  school  should,  therefore, 
at  all  times  place  emphasis  upon  those  activities 
which  will  give  the  children  experience  in  right  living. 

Conduct  is  largely  a  matter  of  habit.  Someone 
has  said,  “Habits  result  in  character  and  character 
in  destiny.”  Ideals  of  right  living  must  carry  over 
into  habits  of  right  conduct.  It  is  only  thus  that 
motives  really  get  into  daily  living.  Childhood  is 
peculiarly  a  period  of  habit  forming.  This  goes  on 
whether  we  will  or  no.  Every  thought  and  every 
act  has  a  tendency  to  repeat  itself  and  become 
fixed  in  the  life  of  the  child.  This  is  especially  true 
of  an  act  if  it  is  pleasurable.  The  child  must  not 
only  be  taught  religion  but  must  be  given  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  make  it  a  part  of  his  daily  life.  Children 
form  habits  of  reverence,  truth  telling,  and  honesty 
quite  as  readily  as  they  do  habits  of  irreverence, 
lying,  and  dishonesty.  It  happens  too  frequently 
that  they  form  the  bad  habits  because  a  fair  chance 
is  not  given  them  to  form  the  good  ones. 

24 


WHAT  SHOULD  SCHOOLS  SEEK  TO  DO? 


The  vacation  school  certainly  must  have  habit 
forming  as  one  of  its  chief  aims.  More  particularly 
its  work  should  seek  to  develop  habits  of  reverence , 
worship ,  prayer ,  and  definite  acts  of  service.  Wor¬ 
ship  programs  should  be  carefully  planned  and 
carried  out.  In  this  relation,  as  elsewhere,  habits 
are  formed  by  what  the  children  do  themselves. 
They  must  actively  participate  in  the  worship  exer¬ 
cises.  The  writer  knows  of  a  Sunday  school  where 
the  spirit  of  an  entire  department  has  been  changed 
by  the  right  kind  of  a  worship  program  in  which  the 
children  actively  participate.  They  have  formed  hab¬ 
its  of  reverence,  responsiveness,  helpfulness,  and 
good  order.  These  find  expression  not  only  during 
the  worship  period  but  in  the  classrooms  as  well. 

The  importance  of  good  habits  is  not,  of  course, 
measured  wholly  or  even  chiefly  by  conduct  in  the 
school  itself.  We  should  not  seek  to  build  up  merely 
school  habits  but  life  habits.  They  must  be  made 
to  carry  over  and  find  expression  in  the  home,  on 
the  playground,  in  the  street,  and  wherever  children 
live  in  their  day  by  day  contacts.  Many  of  the 
vacation  schools  have,  in  theory  at  least,  rightly 
emphasized  habit  formation.  But  children  do  not 
form  habits  merely  by  talking  to  them  about  it. 
“Talks”  and  “lessons”  about  habits  are  useful  only 
when  they  result  in  action.  For  example,  if  children 
are  to  form  the  habit  of  brushing  their  teeth  they 
must  perform  this  act  at  definite  times  day  after  day. 
If  they  are  to  form  habits  of  acts  of  service  they 
must  actually  and  repeatedly  perform  these  acts.  The 
same  thing  can  be  said  of  habits  of  cleanliness, 
reverence,  prayer,  and  worship.  Repeated  activity, 
and  this  alone,  results  in  habit. 

25 


CHAPTER  III 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  AND 
COMMUNITY  FOR  THE 
VACATION  SCHOOL 

We  have  considered  in  Chapter  II  the  purposes 
of  the  vacation  school.  These  will  serve  as  guides 
in  making  a  program,  in  determining  time  schedules, 
in  arranging  for  suitable  buildings  and  equipment, 
and  in  formulating  standards  for  measuring  results. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  the  interest  and  support 
of  the  people  of  the  church  and  community  must 
be  secured.  A  vacation  church  school,  like  any 
other  school,  cannot  succeed  unless  the  children 
enroll  and  attend  regularly  and  punctually.  They 
will  not  do  so  unless  public  sentiment  is  created 
favorable  to  the  school.  Funds  will  have  to  be 
raised.  This  will  not  be  possible  if  the  people  are 
not  informed  about  the  purposes  of  the  school 
and  the  benefits  to  the  children  to  be  derived  from 
it.  Creating  favorable  public  opinion  is  one  of  the 
tasks,  sometimes  a  rather  difficult  one,  of  those  who 
attempt  to  establish  and  maintain  vacation  schools. 
Any  kind  of  public  institution  to  be  successful  must 
have  hearty  public  support. 

The  school  must,  of  course,  be  made  to  appeal 
to  parents.  Others  in  the  community  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  children  must  also  be  appealed  to. 
The  active  interest  and  cordial  support  of  ministers 
is  necessary.  The  support  should  be  secured  of 

26 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY 


public-spirited  men  and  women,  particularly  those 
who  are  leaders  in  educational,  religious,  and  philan¬ 
thropic  enterprises.  In  every  church  and  community 
there  are  always  certain  key  men  and  women  whose 
interest  in  any  public  undertaking  is  essential  to 
its  success.  The  school  must  be  brought  to  their 
attention  in  such  a  way  as  to  arouse  interest  and 
enlist  cooperation.  On  what  basis  can  we  make 
successful  appeal  to  parents,  ministers,  and  others 
whose  cooperation  must  be  secured? 

People  are  always  interested  in  the  zvelfare  of  chil¬ 
dren .  This  gives  us  a  starting  point.  If  they  be¬ 
come  persuaded  that  any  enterprise  will  benefit 
children  they  will  support  it.  It,  therefore,  follows 
that  we  should  get  their  attention  fixed  upon  the 
fact  that  the  school  proposes  to  do  something  for 
the  children  which  needs  to  be  done.  When  a  church 
or  community  becomes  convinced  of  this,  a  very 
important  step  has  been  taken  in  establishing  and 
maintaining  a  successful  vacation  school.  Without 
this  no  permanent  success  can  be  hoped  for. 

Information  must  be  supplied. — It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  person  or  persons  responsible  for 
arousing  interest  and  enlisting  cooperation  in  setting 
up  a  vacation  school  must  have  full  information 
themselves.  They  must  know  definitely  the  needs 
of  the  children  which  the  school  can  supply.  How 
many  children  in  the  community  can  be  served  by 
the  school?  What  is  the  probable  enrollment  pro¬ 
viding  parents  and  others  become  interested?  Are 
the  available  buildings  accessible  to  the  children? 
Were  schools  conducted  last  year?  If  so,  how  suc¬ 
cessful  were  they?  What  were  the  causes  of  success 
or  failure?  How  much  will  it  cost  to  maintain  the 

27 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


school?  For  what  purpose  will  funds  be  needed 
and  how  much  for  each  item?  What  is  the  pro¬ 
posed  length  of  term? — three,  five,  or  six  weeks — 
or  shorter  or  longer  term?  Are  the  aims  clearly 
enough  in  mind  to  explain  them  to  those  who  have 
a  right  to  know?  What  is  the  program  of  instruc¬ 
tion  and  activities?  These  are  some  of  the  things 
which  must  be  known  by  those  who  are  seeking 
support  for  the  school.  Some  of  this  information 
can  be  gained  only  by  making  a  systematic,  careful 
survey  of  the  community.  Some  of  it  can  be  secured 
by  having  a  knowledge  of  successful  vacation 
schools  in  other  communities. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that 
the  people  of  many  churches  and  communities 
know  little  or  nothing  about  church  vacation  schools. 
If  they  have  not  been  held  before  in  the  community 
this  will  certainly  be  true;  for  the  undertaking,  in 
that  case,  will  be  entirely  new.  Even  if  such  schools 
have  previously  been  conducted,  it  should  not  be 
assumed  that  the  people  are  well  informed.  Inquiry 
may  reveal  that  the  enrollment  was  comparatively 
small  and  that  only  a  few  people  had  knowledge 
of  the  school  and  interest  in  it.  Possibly  the  school 
was  not  successful  because  of  small  enrollment, 
irregular  attendance,  or  bad  management.  If  so, 
this  handicap  will  have  to  be  overcome  by  con¬ 
vincing  the  people,  by  presenting  facts ,  that  a  vaca¬ 
tion  school  can  be  made  successful.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  schools  already  held  were  successful, 
this  fact  should  be  made  known  and  be  used  to 
enlist  interest  and  support  for  the  present  enter¬ 
prise. 

Mere  statement  of  the  fact  that  vacation  schools 

28 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY 


have  been  successful  in  this  community  or  others 
will  not  be  sufficient.  We  shall  have  to  explain  in 
some  detail  what  they  have  actually  accomplished. 
For  example,  the  writer  knows  the  director  of  a 
week-day  church  school  who  has  built  up  a  large 
and  successful  school  from  a  very  small  beginning. 
He  has  succeeded  in  doing  this  largely  because  he 
has  been  able  to  tell  the  people  very  definitely  what 
the  school  is  accomplishing.  No  other  kind  of 
advertising  is  as  valuable  as  this.  But  we  must 
have  the  facts  and  use  them  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  our  appeal  convincing. 

Various  methods  employed  in  furnishing  informa¬ 
tion. — Definite  means  will  have  to  be  used  to  secure 
attention  of  people.  One  of  the  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  in  advertising  of  any  kind  is,  get  the  attention 
of  those  whom  we  want  to  interest  in  our  project. 
It  holds  good  here  as  elsewhere.  Its  application 
to  the  matter  in  hand  requires  careful  preparation. 
We  must  not  only  have  the  information  to  give  the 
people,  but  ways  must  be  found  to  get  it  to  them. 
The  next  thing  to  consider  is  how  to  present  it  in 
such  way  as  to  enlist  interest  and  secure  action.  Our 
purpose,  of  course,  is  not  merely  to  spread  informa¬ 
tion  but  to  get  certain  definite  things  done. 

Before  suggesting  some  of  the  ways  which  may  be 
used  in  getting  things  done,  a  few  words  of  caution 
will  be  given.  It  should  not  be  assumed  that  every 
one  in  the  community  will  immediately  respond 
enthusiastically.  Time  will  be  required.  Begin  as 
early  as  possible  in  the  campaign  of  publicity.  Avoid 
by  all  possible  means  giving  the  impression  that  the 
proposal  for  the  school  is  being  brought  in  from  the 
outside.  On  the  contrary,  the  people  of  the  church 

29 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


and  the  community  should  be  made  to  feel  that 
it  is  their  undertaking.  None  of  us  like  to  have 
things  “put  over  on  us,”  so  to  speak,  by  outsiders 
or  even  by  insiders.  It  is  very  important,  there¬ 
fore,  that  methods  of  publicity  be  used  in  such  a 
way  as  to  create  a  feeling  of  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  all  the  people  whose  cooperation  is  desired 
in  establishing  and  conducting  the  school. 

Various  methods  will  be  found  useful  in  prepar¬ 
ing  the  church  and  community  for  the  school.  No 
set  of  hard  and  fast  rules  of  procedure  can  be  fol¬ 
lowed.  Communities  differ  in  size,  character  of 
population,  and  in  other  ways.  If  the  school  is  to 
be  conducted  by  a  single  church,  this  will  call  for 
one  way  of  going  about  the  task.  In  case  several 
churches  are  expected  to  cooperate,  a  somewhat 
different  way  will  have  to  be  followed.  The  point 
here  is  simply  this,  local  conditions  will  have  to  he 
thoroughly  understood ,  and  methods  will  have  to  he 
adapted  to  fit  these  conditions. 

A  few  suggestions  follow  concerning  how  to 
proceed : 

i.  Personal  contacts.  We  have  already  spoken  of 
certain  classes  of  persons  whose  cooperation  must 
be  secured.  It  will  be  necessary  to  get  into  personal 
contact  with  them.  Ministers,  public  school  teachers, 
and  other  “key  people”  in  the  community  and 
church  should  be  consulted.  This  is  one  very 
effective  method  of  securing  valuable  information 
concerning  the  local  situation.  Talk  the  matter 
over  with  these  individuals  very  frankly.  Explain 
the  purpose  of  the  school  and  seek  their  advice 
and  counsel  regarding  further  procedure.  Solicit 
them  personally  to  assume  responsibility  for  doing 

30 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY 


certain  things  in  a  preliminary  way  which  need  to 
be  done  in  order  to  get  the  attention  of  the  people 
and  arouse  interest.  For  example,  the  matter  needs 
to  be  “talked  up.”  Ask  these  persons  called  upon 
if  they  will  talk  to  their  friends  and  associates 
about  the  school.  Ministers  should  be  asked  to 
present  the  matter  to  their  congregations.  Teachers 
can  exert  an  influence  by  telling  the  children  some¬ 
thing  about  vacation  schools.  Others  will  be  useful 
in  one  way  or  another  in  spreading  information. 
If  some  preliminary  work  of  this  kind  can  be  done, 
it  will  lay  the  foundation  for  public  meetings,  news¬ 
paper  publicity,  and  other  means  of  disseminating 
information. 

2.  Group  meetings.  When  individuals  have  been 
called  upon  and  their  interest  enlisted  it  may  be 
well  to  call  a  group  meeting.  This  should  be  done 
by  one  or  more  of  those  who  will  attend  the  meet¬ 
ing.  Here  plans  can  be  talked  over,  and  suggestions 
made  for  carrying  forward  the  work  of  creating  gen¬ 
eral  interest  in  the  school.  Some  kind  of  temporary 
organization  should  be  set  up  at  this  meeting.  One 
or  more  committees  will  probably  need  to  be  ap¬ 
pointed  to  arrange  for  a  public  meeting  or  some 
other  means  of  publicity.  This  group  meeting 
should  result  in  definite  action  of  some  kind  so 
that  several  people  will  become  active  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  the  school. 

3.  Public  meetings.  Utilize  public  meetings  being 
held  for  other  purposes.  By  means  of  these 
announcements  can  be  made  and  brief  presentation 
of  the  merits  of  the  schools  secured.  As  indicated 
above,  ministers  may  be  willing  to  devote  all  or  a 
part  of  a  public  service  to  a  presentation  of  the 

3i 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


benefits  of  the  school.  One  or  more  public  meet¬ 
ings  called  specifically  in  the  interests  of  the  school 
may  be  desirable.  In  all  cases  where  such  meet¬ 
ings  are  called  they  should  be  carefully  planned 
for.  Sufficient  publicity  should  be  given  to  the 
meeting.  Definite  plans  should  be  made  to  secure 
the  attendance  of  parents  and  others  upon  whom 
the  success  of  the  school  will  depend.  The  program 
for  the  meeting  should  be  arranged  in  advance, 
and  planned  to  accomplish  certain  definite  purposes. 
Such  a  meeting  is  a  good  place  to  have  some  def¬ 
inite  action  taken  concerning  the  establishment  of 
the  school.  This  is  particularly  true  if  several 
churches  are  to  cooperate  in  carrying  on  the  enter¬ 
prise.  Committees  may  be  appointed  and  other 
definite  plans  made  to  provide  the  necessary  per¬ 
manent  organization. 

4.  Newspaper  publicity .  In  the  case  of  one  week¬ 
day  church  school  known  to  the  writer,  the  news¬ 
paper  in  the  community  was  a  great  help  in  estab¬ 
lishing  the  school.  It  published  announcements  of 
public  meetings  and  articles  written  by  the  director 
and  others.  Through  it  the  people  learned  of  the 
work  of  week-day  schools  in  other  places.  Editorials 
were  also  used  to  call  the  attention  of  the  people 
to  the  need  of  such  a  school  in  that  community. 
Where  the  support  of  newspapers  can  be  secured 
it  should  be  utilized. 

5.  Placards  and  pamphlets.  These  are  used  very 
effectively  in  some  communities.  Placards  should 
be  made  in  such  way  as  to  attract  attention.  They 
should  make  one  or  two  points  stand  out  clearly 
and  be  so  placed  throughout  the  community  that 
they  will  come  to  the  attention  of  those  for  whom 

32 


PREPARING  THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY 


they  are  intended.  In  the  use  of  this  method  of 
advertising  as  well  as  all  others,  we  should  keep 
definitely  in  mind  the  particular  persons  whose 
interest  we  desire  to  secure.  What  will  attract  their 
attention?  What  will  interest  them?  What  will 
arouse  them  to  do  the  things  we  want  them  to  do? 
These  questions  should  be  kept  constantly  in  mind 
to  serve  as  guides  in  what  we  say  and  how  we  say  it. 

Pamphlets  are  useful  in  various  ways.  They 
enable  us  to  state  clearly  the  purposes  of  the  school, 
its  financial  needs  and  other  important  items  of 
information.  What  is  said  should  be  said  briefly 
and  to  the  point.  Long  statements  will  probably 
not  be  read.  Main  facts  should  stand  out  clearly 
on  the  page.  The  paper  used  should  be  of  good 
quality  and  the  print  clear.  Some  of  the  points 
discussed  in  the  preceding  paragraph  will  apply 
here. 

Other  methods  and  devices  will  suggest  them¬ 
selves.  All  of  those  mentioned  here  will  not  prob¬ 
ably  be  used  in  any  one  place.  Choice  should  be 
made  of  the  method  or  methods  which  will  be  most 
useful,  taking  into  account  the  particular  local 
situation.  The  point  to  keep  in  mind  is  that  infor¬ 
mation  must  be  furnished  and  in  such  manner  as 
to  secure  action.  We  want  the  support  of  public 
opinion.  By  this  we  mean  that  part  of  the  public 
upon  which  reliance  must  be  placed  for  the  success 
of  the  school.  It  goes  without  saying  that  parents 
are  included  in  this  public.  The  leadership  of  the 
church,  including  of  course  the  minister,  must  give 
hearty  support,  or  the  enterprise  will  fail.  There 
may  be  other  persons  not  included  in  these  two 
classes  whose  interest  and  support  are  needed.  In 

33 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


what  may  be  called  the  promotion  campaign,  the 
persons  whom  we  desire  to  interest  must  be  kept 
clearly  in  mind. 

A  brief  discussion  is  perhaps  in  place  here  con¬ 
cerning  the  whole  of  the  matter  of  publicity  as  it 
relates  to  preparing  the  church  and  the  community. 
People  are  being  called  upon  to  support  many 
community  enterprises.  Churches  are  besieged  to 
support  this  thing  or  that.  Funds  are  being  sought 
for  all  sorts  of  purposes.  It,  therefore,  requires 
both  intelligence  and  effort  to  secure  attention  and 
arouse  interest.  The  vacation  school,  like  all  other 
worthy  enterprises,  must  stand  on  its  merits.  Its 
merits  must  be  presented  clearly  and  forcefully. 
Publicity  given  to  it  must  have  a  “pull.”  The 
benefits  it  will  bestow  upon  the  children  and  the 
community  must  be  made  to  stand  out.  This 
does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  use  cheap  claptrap 
or  sensational  methods.  Quite  the  contrary  is  true. 
Any  institution  whose  purpose  is  the  moral  and 
spiritual  upbuilding  of  childhood  and  youth  does 
not  need  to  resort  to  such  methods.  In  fact,  it 
cannot  do  so  and  succeed  permanently.  We  can 
ill  afford  to  use  any  method  that  will  cheapen  the 
school  and  bring  it  into  disrepute.  Permanent 
respect  is  worth  far  more  than  temporary  support 
secured  under  false  pretenses.  Let  us  use  methods 
that  will  secure  respect  and  support,  both  of  which 
will  be  permanent. 


34 


CHAPTER  IV 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 

In  getting  ready  to  conduct  a  vacation  school 
some  kind  of  organization  has  to  be  set  up.  The 
kind  and  extent  of  organization  will  not,  of  course, 
be  the  same  in  all  cases.  But  certain  things  have 
to  be  done  in  conducting  a  school  which  require 
cooperative  effort.  Cooperation  requires  organiza¬ 
tion  of  some  kind.  This  is  true  whether  the  school 
is  large  or  small,  whether  it  is  conducted  by  a  single 
church  or  several  churches  cooperating. 

Too  much  organization  is  probably  quite  as  bad 
as  too  little.  Mark  Twain’s  story  of  the  steamboat 
is  a  case  in  point.  The  whistle  was  so  large  that 
the  boat  had  to  be  stopped  in  order  to  blow  it. 
There  wasn’t  enough  steam  in  the  boiler  for  both 
the  whistle  and  the  cylinders.  Only  so  much 
organization  should  be  set  up  as  is  needed  to  con¬ 
duct  the  school.  By  organization  we  mean  definite 
plans  of  procedure  and  the  selection  of  suitable 
persons  who  have  certain  duties  to  perform.  Some 
of  these  do  their  work  inside  the  school  and  others 
outside.  One  person  at  least,  the  principal  who 
has  immediate  charge  of  the  school,  performs  duties 
both  inside  the  school  and  outside  as  well. 

In  going  about  it  to  set  up  an  organization,  some 
of  the  questions  which  we  should  have  constantly 
before  us  are,  What  are  the  things  which  need  to 
be  done?  How  many  people  are  necessary  to  do 
these  things?  What  particular  persons  are  best 

35 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


fitted  to  do  them?  How  shall  they  be  organized 
into  working  groups  to  secure  the  best  results  from 
their  work? 

Let  us  turn  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the 
things  which  have  to  be  done  in  setting  up  the 
organization  which  we  call  the  school.  A  part  of 
this  will  be  within  the  school  itself  and  a  part  of 
it  will  consist  of  persons  who  are  to  establish  and 
conduct  it. 

Enrollment  of  pupils. — Every  effort  should  be 
made  to  secure  the  enrollment  on  the  first  day  of 
all  the  children  who  will  attend  the  school.  The 
work  of  too  many  vacation  schools  is  greatly  hin¬ 
dered  because  of  failure  at  this  point.  Children 
who  enter  late  lose  much  of  the  benefit  of  the  school. 
If  any  considerable  proportion  of  them  enter  late, 
this  seriously  interferes  with  the  work  of  those  who 
enroll  promptly  at  the  opening  of  the  term.  An 
increasing  enrollment  is  perhaps  better  than  a 
decreasing  one;  but  neither  should  be  regarded  as 
the  sign  of  a  successful  school.  Make  the  first  day 
as  well  as  every  other  day  count  for  the  most. 

In  order  to  do  this  plans  will  have  to  be  made  in 
advance  of  the  day  for  opening  the  school.  It  is 
very  desirable  to  know  as  accurately  as  possible 
several  days  in  advance  how  many  will  be  enrolled. 
We  should  also  know  their  ages  and  the  public 
school  grade  to  which  they  belong.  Without  this 
information  it  is  quite  impossible  to  make  definite 
plans  for  the  work  of  the  school.  For  example, 
without  this  knowledge,  how  shall  we  know  what 
kind  of  program  we  need?  Instruction  material 
will  have  to  be  selected,  worship  programs  planned, 
materials  for  handwork  purchased,  and  other  neces- 

36 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


sary  supplies  secured.  Classrooms  will  have  to  be 
provided  and  the  number  of  teachers  that  will  be 
required  should  be  known.  When  we  go  over  the 
matter  carefully  and  make  a  list  of  the  things  to 
be  done  which  depend  upon  the  number  and  ages 
of  the  pupils  enrolled,  the  importance  of  having 
this  information  in  advance  is  seen  at  once. 

The  most  important  thing  in  this  connection  is 
to  get  in  touch  with  parents.  Several  devices  may 
be  used  to  secure  the  information.  Make  out  an 
enrollment  card  calling  for  the  necessary  informa¬ 
tion,  as  name  of  parent,  name  of  child,  residence, 
age,  public  school  grade,  and  the  like.  Provide 
enough  of  these  printed  or  typewritten  cards  for 
the  parents.  Secure  permission  from  the  public 
school  to  distribute  them  among  the  children  with 
the  request  that  they  be  taken  home  and  returned 
next  day  with  the  information  requested.  The 
Sunday  schools  may  be  used  for  a  like  purpose. 
If  a  list  of  names  and  addresses  can  be  secured  they 
could  be  mailed  directly  to  them.  In  case  this 
method  is  used,  inclose  addressed  and  stamped 
envelope  for  return.  When  this  information  is 
secured  it  should  be  properly  tabulated  as  a  basis 
for  making  necessary  plans  for  the  opening  day 
of  the  school.  It  may  turn  out  that  all  the  pupils 
whose  names  you  have  on  the  list  will  not  appear. 
Others  whose  names  have  not  been  secured  will 
probably  be  present,  but  this  number  should  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum  by  systematically  planning 
to  secure  full  enrollment.  Some  minor  changes 
may  have  to  be  made,  but  this  will  not  seriously 
interfere  with  carrying  out  the  plans  already  made 
for  the  first  day. 


37 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


Grading  or  grouping  pupils.— Definite  plans  have 
to  be  made  for  properly  grouping  pupils.  The 
precise  plan  will,  of  course,  depend  somewhat  upon 
the  number  and  ages  of  pupils,  equipment  at  hand, 
and  kind  of  building  available.  In  other  types  of 
schools  we  find  several  plans  in  use.  The  public 
school  usually  groups  children  according  to  age. 
For  example,  children  six  years  of  age  are  found 
in  the  first  grade,  seven  years  in  the  second,  eight 
years  in  the  third,  and  so  on.  In  week-day  church 
schools  the  practice  is  quite  common  to  place  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  first  and  second  public  school  grades 
together  in  what  is  called  group  one  and  so  on. 
This  is  not  done  because  this  method  of  grouping 
is  better  than  that  of  the  public  school.  It  is  used 
because  of  small  enrollment  or  for  some  other 
reason  which  makes  it  impossible  or  at  least  very 
difficult  to  follow  the  public  school  plan  of  grading 
pupils. 

The  Sunday  school  uses  a  plan  of  grouping  not 
used  by  the  public  school  and  not  usually  found  in 
the  week-day  church  school.  This  is  what  is  called 
departmental  grouping.  For  example,  the  primary 
department  is  composed  of  pupils  six,  seven,  and 
eight  years  of  age,  the  junior  department,  nine, 
ten,  and  eleven  and  so  on,  each  department,  except 
the  beginners,  consisting  of  three  public  school  grades. 
Small  Sunday  schools  frequently  have  no  other  plan 
of  grading.  The  larger  schools  usually  have  the 
department  groups  for  purposes  of  general  exercises 
and  worship,  and  classes  or  grades  corresponding 
to  the  public  school  plan  for  purposes  of  instruction. 

Which  of  these  plans  is  preferable  for  the  vaca¬ 
tion  school?  Or  what  combination  of  plans  will 

33 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


secure  the  best  results?  Let  it  be  said  here  that 
just  because  it  is  a  vacation  school  does  not  make 
it  less  necessary  to  have  the  pupils  properly  grouped 
or  graded.  In  any  kind  of  school  this  depends  upon 
certain  definite  things  which  must  be  taken  into 
account.  We  know,  for  example,  that  for  good 
classroom  work  it  is  necessary  to  have  pupils  of 
about  the  same  age.  It  is  better  to  have  pupils 
six  years  of  age  in  one  group,  those  of  seven  in 
another,  and  those  of  eight  in  still  another  than 
it  is  to  have  six,  seven,  and  eight-year-olds  all  in 
one  group.  The  wider  the  range  of  ages  the  more 
difficult  it  is  to  adapt  subject  matter  and  methods 
to  the  interests,  needs,  and  capacities  of  children. 
On  the  other  hand,  for  purposes  of  general  exercises 
and  worship,  Sunday  schools  find  departmental 
grouping  quite  satisfactory.  In  case  of  certain 
kinds  of  social  and  recreational  activities  the  same 
thing  is  true.  Space  will  not  permit  us  to  con¬ 
sider  here  the  reasons  for  this.  The  point  to  be 
emphasized  is  this,  the  kind  of  work  to  be  carried 
on  is  one  of  the  things  which  determine  whether 
pupils  of  the  same  age  should  be  grouped  together 
or  whether  a  wider  range  of  ages  can  be  included. 

The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  the  school  is 
another  factor  that  determines  the  grouping  of 
pupils.  A  small  number  of  pupils  of  a  rather  wide 
range  of  ages  will  not  permit  of  what  is  called  “close 
grading.”  For  example,  if  there  should  be  only 
three  or  four  pupils  of  nine  years  of  age,  the  same 
number  ten  and  the  same  number  eleven,  it  would 
not  be  possible,  certainly  not  desirable,  to  form  three 
class  groups.  One  class  consisting  of  ten  to  twelve 
pupils  would  be  far  better  than  three,  or  even  two, 

39 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


each  having  a  smaller  number.  Classes  must  not 
be  too  small  as  well  as  not  too  large.  In  many  of 
our  Sunday  schools  classes  are  too  small  for  effective 
work.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  have  enough  chil¬ 
dren  nine  years  of  age  to  form  a  medium  size  class, 
say  ten  to  fifteen,  the  class  should  be  formed.  The 
same  should  be  said  of  a  ten  year  or  any  other  age 
group.  In  the  case  of  small  children,  not  as  many, 
perhaps,  should  be  placed  in  one  class. 

The  number  and  size  of  groups  of  children  which 
can  be  advantageously  formed  in  the  vacation  school 
depends  upon  several  other  practical  considerations. 
Length  and  arrangement  of  time  schedule  is  one 
of  them.  The  number  of  teachers  available  is 
another.  Building  space  and  its  arrangement  is 
still  another.  A  good  way  to  plan  for  the  grading 
of  pupils  is  this.  Provide  for  such  grouping  as 
seems  most  desirable  if  all  the  conditions  will  per¬ 
mit.  Then  modify  the  plan  in  accordance  with  the 
actual  conditions  which  have  to  be  met. 

Making  a  program. — This  will  be  discussed  in  a 
later  chapter.  Mention  of  it  is  made  here  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  making  of  a  definite, 
well-planned  program  constitutes  a  part  of  the  task 
of  setting  up  the  organization. 

Selecting  teachers. — Among  the  important  things 
in  setting  up  an  organization,  selecting  teachers 
is  one  of  the  most  important.  “As  is  the  teacher 
so  is  the  school”  is  a  very  true  statement.  This 
is  so  whether  one  teacher  or  more  than  one  is  re¬ 
quired.  It  is  true  whether  we  are  discussing  vaca¬ 
tion  schools  or  some  other  kind  of  school. 

Teachers  should  be  selected  and  not  merely  em¬ 
ployed.  They  should  be  chosen  wholly  on  a  basis 

40 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


of  their  fitness  for  the  task  and  not  accepted  for 
service  merely  because  they  are  available.  It 
should  make  no  difference  whether  they  are  paid 
or  unpaid  for  their  service.  Unfortunately  it  prob¬ 
ably  will  make  some  difference  in  our  ability  to 
get  good  teachers  if  no  provision  is  made  for  com¬ 
pensation.  In  any  case,  children  are  extremely 
unfortunate  who  have  poor  teachers.  Whether  they 
are  paid  or  not  does  not  help  the  children  any. 
If  the  payment  of  a  salary  helps  to  secure  good 
teachers,  and  the  writer  believes  it  does,  then  every 
effort  should  be  made  to  provide  for  reasonable 
compensation. 

Teachers  should  be  selected  in  advance.  It  will 
not  do  to  wait  until  the  day  before  school  opens 
and  then  scurry  around  to  find  teachers.  There 
are  two  reasons  for  this.  One  is  that  we  must  be 
sure  that  we  have  the  best  teachers  available  and 
in  sufficient  number  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the 
school.  This  requires  time;  it  is  not  a  last-minute 
job.  A  second  reason  is  that  the  teachers  will  prob¬ 
ably  require  some  training  for  the  work  they  are 
expected  to  do.  It  is  likely  that  some  of  them  will 
not  have  had  previous  training  or  experience. 
Others,  perhaps  all,  will  not  be  familiar  with  the 
aims  and  program  of  a  vacation  school.  This 
whole  question  will  be  discussed  in  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

What  are  the  sources  of  supply  for  teachers  in 
vacation  schools?  Public  school  teachers  are  some¬ 
times  available.  College  students  returning  to  the 
home  town  for  the  vacation  period  may  be  called 
upon.  Successful  Sunday  school  teachers  may  be 
willing  to  teach  in  the  vacation  school.  Ministers 

4i 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


sometimes  find  it  possible  to  devote  a  few  hours  a 
week  to  the  work  of  the  school.  Others  in  the  com¬ 
munity,  particularly  those  who  are  former  public 
school  teachers,  may  be  qualified  and  willing  to 
serve.  As  previously  stated,  teachers  should  be 
selected  wholly  on  a  basis  of  their  fitness  to  do  the 
things  which  the  success  of  the  vacation  school 
requires. 

Qualifications  of  teachers. — There  are  certain  per¬ 
sonal  characteristics  that  anyone  must  possess  who 
is  expected  to  do  effective  work  with  children. 
A  successful  teacher  must  have  a  winning  person¬ 
ality,  capacity  to  make  adaptations  readily  to  the 
demands  of  the  school,  and  devotion  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  children.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that 
anyone  who  is  employed  to  teach  religion  should 
possess  a  vital  religious  life.  In  addition  to  this 
personal  religious  experience  a  teacher  should  have 
an  abiding  intelligent  interest  in  this  form  of  Chris¬ 
tian  service.  The  work  of  the  teacher  is  such  that 
nothing  can  take  the  place  of  the  personal  factor. 
Nothing  can  be  substituted  for  kindness,  sym¬ 
pathy,  patience,  love  for  children,  and  self-control. 
This  is  true  in  the  case  of  any  kind  of  teaching  and 
particularly  of  the  teaching  of  religion. 

From  the  standpoint  of  academic  and  professional 
preparation  and  experience,  teachers  in  vacation 
schools  should  be  as  well  qualified  as  the  best 
teachers  in  the  public  schools.  Personal  qualities 
cannot  take  the  place  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
subject  matter  to  be  taught  and  of  effective  methods 
of  teaching.  Whether  teaching  has  advanced  to 
the  stage  of  being  a  profession  may  be  an  open 
question;  but  it  is  at  least  a  highly  specialized 

42 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


vocation.  The  knowledge  of  what  to  teach  and  how 
to  teach  must  be  acquired  by  study  and  experience. 

Certain  specific  qualifications  should  be  taken 
into  account  in  selecting  teachers  for  the  vacation 
schools.  Story  telling,  music,  craft  work,  recre¬ 
ational  leadership,  conducting  worship  and  carry¬ 
ing  on  service  activities,  all  require  special  types  of 
skill.  In  case  foreign  speaking  or  children  of  for¬ 
eign-speaking  parents  are  enrolled,  it  is  highly 
desirable  that  at  least  one  of  the  teachers  should 
be  capable  of  speaking  the  prevailing  language. 
Unless  a  person  is  employed  as  principal  and  giving 
his  entire  time  to  administrative  work,  one  of  the 
teachers  should  be  chosen  on  the  basis  of  capacity 
to  organize  and  conduct  the  school. 

In  setting  up  the  organization  it  is  highly  desir¬ 
able  to  make  some  provision  for  the  special  training 
for  the  teachers.  It  is  very  probable,  if  indeed  not 
certain,  that  many  of  the  teachers  who  are  em¬ 
ployed  for  the  vacation  schools  will  have  had  no 
training  for  the  task.  Even  though  some  may  have 
had  training  for  public  school  work  they  will  have 
had  no  special  preparation  for  work  in  religious 
education.  One  of  several  means  can  be  made 
available  for  the  training  of  teachers.  For  example, 
provision  can  be  made  for  a  training  school  in  the 
local  community  some  time  during  the  months 
prior  to  the  opening  of  the  vacation  school.  In 
some  communities  local  training  schools  are  main¬ 
tained  for  Sunday  school  and  week-day  school 
teachers,  and  these  can  be  utilized.  Other  oppor¬ 
tunities  exist  in  which  training  can  be  secured, 
such  as  denominational  training  schools  for  definite 
geographical  areas;  city  training  schools  under  the 

43 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


auspices  of  the  International  Association;  church 
federation  schools;  community  training  schools  under 
the  local  Sunday  school  council;  college  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  other  student  Christian  organiza¬ 
tions;  missionary  and  other  training  schools;  theo¬ 
logical  schools.  These  and  other  institutions  fre¬ 
quently  provide  during  the  spring  months  a  brief 
intensive  course  for  workers  in  the  daily  vacation 
schools. 

Providing  funds ,  planning  the  budget ,  providing 
buildings ,  securing  equipment  and  supplies  and  plan¬ 
ning  the  daily  program ,  all  important  matters,  will 
be  reserved  for  later  discussion. 

We  come  now  to  the  question  of  the  kind  of 
organization  needed  to  set  up  the  school  and  make 
it  go.  Certain  definite  duties  have  been  indicated 
which  will  have  to  be  performed  by  persons  selected 
for  the  purpose.  What  is  everybody’s  business  is 
nobody’s  business.  Persons  will  have  to  be  chosen 
who  know  definitely  what  needs  to  be  done.  They 
will  also  have  to  be  capable  of  doing  these  things 
and  willing  to  do  them. 

Principal  of  the  school. — Some  one  person  is 
required  to  have  direct  charge  of  the  school.  This 
is  true  whether  we  have  a  one-teacher  school  or  em¬ 
ploy  several  teachers;  whether  fifty  children  or  less 
are  enrolled  or  five  hundred  or  more.  Some  one 
has  to  head  the  work  of  preparing  the  church  and 
the  community,  setting  up  the  organization,  plan¬ 
ning  the  budget,  and  many  other  such  matters. 
Part  of  the  planning  required  by  the  school  is  rather 
clearly  the  work  of  the  teacher.  Much  of  it  must 
be  done  by  some  person  acting  as  organizer  and 
supervisor.  For  convenience  we  shall  call  this  per- 

44 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


son  principal.  In  some  places  the  term  director  or 
supervisor  is  used.  How  the  principal  is  to  be 
appointed  will  not  be  discussed  here.  But  he  or 
she  should  be  duly  appointed  with  certain  definite 
powers  and  responsibilities.  This  person  will,  of 
course,  work  under  the  direction  of  and  be  the 
executive  officer  of  the  board  discussed  in  the  next 
section. 

Board  of  Religious  Education. — This  is  the  official 
body  having  responsibility  for  the  school.  It  is 
sometimes  called  a  Committee,  or  by  some  other 
name.  Its  inclusive  duty  is  to  establish  and  con¬ 
duct  the  school.  This  is  true  whether  the  school 
is  to  be  conducted  by  a  single  church  or  by  two 
or  more  churches  cooperating.  If  the  church  already 
has  such  a  board  or  committee  for  its  Sunday  school, 
it  might  serve  for  the  vacation  school. 

This  is  frequently  the  practice  and  is  to  be  com¬ 
mended.  Nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  creating  a 
new  organization  when  one  already  in  existence 
will  serve  the  purpose.  If  cooperating  churches 
have  a  committee  for  carrying  on  week-day  church 
schools,  it  might  well  serve  to  set  up  and  conduct 
the  cooperative  vacation  school.  In  some  com¬ 
munities  where  such  week-day  schools  are  con¬ 
ducted,  the  same  committee  or  board  also  have 
charge  of  the  vacation  school.  This  arrangement, 
the  writer  believes,  is  a  very  satisfactory  one. 
Here,  again,  a  creation  of  a  new  organization  is 
neither  necessary  nor  desirable  when  an  existing 
organization  will  serve  quite  as  well. 

Individual  churches  sometimes  conduct  vacation 
schools  by  using  the  same  board  or  committee  as 
is  used  for  the  Sunday  school.  In  any  case,  how- 

45 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


ever  the  appointment  may  be  made,  it  is  desirable 
to  have  a  small  administrative  body  responsible 
for  the  school.  This  body  should  consist  of  from 
three  to  seven  members  duly  appointed  and  in¬ 
vested  with  the  necessary  authority  by  the  church 
or  the  cooperating  churches  under  whose  auspices 
the  school  is  to  be  conducted. 

The  more  important  duties  of  this  board  or 
committee  have  already  been  mentioned.  It  employs 
the  principal,  determines  the  program,  provides 
buildings  and  equipment,  employs  teachers,  is 
responsible  for  raising  funds,  prepares  the  budget, 
and  has  general  oversight  of  the  school.  Many  of 
its  duties  are  delegated  to  others.  For  example, 
it  may  appoint  a  finance  committee  or  select  one 
person  to  secure  the  funds.  Responsibility  for 
securing  the  use  of  buildings  and  providing  equip¬ 
ment  may  be  delegated  to  others.  It  is  a  common 
practice  for  boards  to  appoint  committees  of  its 
own  members  who  are  responsible  for  certain  things. 
For  example,  there  may  be  a  committee  on  teachers, 
another  on  program,  and  still  another  on  building 
and  equipment. 

Responsibility  for  certain  things  will,  of  course, 
be  delegated  to  the  principal.  One  of  these  will 
certainly  be  the  supervision  of  teachers.  The 
director  will  also  have  chief  responsibility  in  making 
out  the  program  and  in  taking  care  of  the  enroll¬ 
ment  and  gradation  of  pupils.  Chief  responsibility 
for  making  out  the  daily  schedule  will  rest  here. 
He  will  be  consulted  in  estimating  the  amount  of 
funds  needed,  making  the  budget,  listing  and  pur¬ 
chasing  supplies,  providing  equipment  and  select¬ 
ing  teachers.  Many  of  the  duties  delegated  to  the 

46 


SETTING  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION 


principal  will  be  treated  at  some  length  in  subse¬ 
quent  chapters  and  will  not  be  discussed  here. 

In  many  towns  and  cities  certain  so-called  over¬ 
head  organizations  exist  which  may  be  made  to  per¬ 
form  important  service  to  the  vacation  schools. 
Among  these  are  church  federations ,  ministerial 
associations ,  daily  vacation  school  associations ,  and 
other  similar  organizations.  Where  these  exist  they 
should  be  utilized  in  creating  public  sentiment, 
securing  the  cooperation  of  churches,  raising  funds, 
and  in  giving  stability  and  permanency  to  the 
enterprise. 

Organizations  of  this  type  are  frequently  useful 
in  making  adequate  supervision  possible.  For  exam¬ 
ple,  an  intercommunity  organization  exists  in  Lake 
County,  Indiana.  Four  communities  are  cooperat¬ 
ing  in  certain  ways  in  conducting  week-day  schools. 
Each  has  its  own  local  board,  and  these  boards 
constitute  a  larger  board  or  council,  which  con¬ 
siders  matters  of  common  interest  to  all  the  com¬ 
munities.  Among  other  things,  this  arrangement 
makes  possible  a  plan  for  supervising  the  work  of 
the  schools.  No  one  community  could  afford  to 
employ  nor  would  it  need  the  full  time  service  of 
a  supervisor.  All  the  communities  uniting  secure 
full  time  service,  each  bearing  its  share  of  expense. 
Similarly  several  vacation  schools  can  make  use  of 
an  overhead  organization  for  the  same  purpose. 
An  organization  may  be  set  up  for  this  purpose 
or  one  already  existing  may  be  made  serviceable. 

In  some  churches  and  communities  the  organiza¬ 
tion  needed  will  be  more  simple  than  what  has 
been  suggested  here.  In  others  it  may  be  necessary 
to  extend  it.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  organ- 

47 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


izations  already  existing  either  in  individual  churches 
or  the  community  may  be  sufficient  for  setting  up 
and  conducting  the  school.  If  so,  nothing  further 
will  be  necessary  except  to  put  the  organization  to 
work  at  the  task.  Whether  an  organization  already 
in  existence  is  used  or  whether  a  new  one  is  created 
is  not  important.  The  thing  that  is  important  is 
to  have  an  organization  that  will  be  effective  in 
setting  up  and  conducting  the  school. 


48 


CHAPTER  V 


PLANNING  THE  BUDGET  AND  SECURING 
FINANCIAL  SUPPORT 

No  successful  school  can  be  conducted  without 
funds.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  some  of  the 
things,  at  least,  which  any  successful  school  must 
have  cost  money.  Even  if  teachers  are  to  be  had 
without  pay,  buildings  provided  free  of  rent,  and  the 
more  important  items  of  equipment  made  avail¬ 
able  without  cost,  expenditure  of  money  will  still 
be  necessary.  Books  will  have  to  be  purchased, 
supplies  bought,  and  other  items  of  expense  pro¬ 
vided  for.  Our  object  should  not  be  a  cheap  school 
but  a  good  one.  Cheap  schools  are  usually  poor 
schools.  This  is  especially  so  when  we  set  out  to 
make  them  cheap.  Economy  should,  of  course,  be 
practiced.  But  economy  is  extremely  wasteful 
when  it  results  in  a  poor  school.  It  is  wasteful 
of  time,  effort,  and  worst  of  all,  of  opportunity  for 
the  children.  A  fund  must  be  provided,  large  or 
small,  as  the  actual  needs  may  require,  for  the 
support  of  the  school. 

Responsibility  for  securing  funds. — The  board  or 
committee  of  religious  education,  or  other  body 
having  charge  of  the  school  should  be  responsible 
for  securing  funds.  This  responsibility  is  some¬ 
times  delegated  to  a  finance  committee  or  to  some 
person  selected  for  the  work.  In  any  case,  definite 
plans  must  be  made  in  advance  to  insure  that 

49 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


sufficient  funds  will  be  available  when  needed. 
This  is  true  regardless  of  the  source  from  which  the 
funds  will  come,  whether  contributed  from  the 
church  treasury  or  raised  by  subscription.  The 
point  is  that  responsibility  should  be  definitely 
fixed  for  providing  adequate  funds  for  carrying  on 
the  work  of  the  school. 

Purposes  for  which  funds  are  needed. — It  is 

possible  that  not  all  the  items  mentioned  will  apply 
to  every  school.  Unpaid  service  on  the  part  of 
teachers  can  sometimes  be  secured.  Equipment 
already  provided  may  be  available.  A  careful  study 
should  be  made  long  enough  before  the  date  for 
the  opening  of  the  school  to  ascertain  what  is  needed. 
When  these  items  are  carefully  listed,  an  accurate 
estimate  should  be  made  of  the  cost  of  each. 

i.  Teachers.  If  competent  volunteer  teachers  can 
be  secured  this  item  need  not  receive  further  atten¬ 
tion.  In  many  cases,  however,  some  compensation 
will  have  to  be  provided.  This  is  true  particularly 
when  competent  teachers  are  not  available  in  the 
local  community. 

At  this  point  it  should  be  said  that  the  vacation 
school  cannot  hope  to  succeed  permanently  with 
unpaid  teachers.  There  may  be  here  and  there 
exceptions  to  this  statement,  but  in  general  it 
holds  true.  Week-day  schools  almost  everywhere 
have  a  paid  teaching  force.  The  reasons  for  this 
need  not  be  discussed  here.  All  that  needs  to  be 
said  here  is  that  the  same  reasons  exist  for  paid 
teachers  in  the  vacation  school.  Looking  to  the 
future,  directors  of  these  schools  should  recognize 
the  necessity  of  providing  funds  for  teachers’ 
salaries. 


50 


PLANNING  THE  BUDGET 


2.  Materials  of  instruction.  This  is  an  impor¬ 
tant  item  of  expense.  Pupils  must  have  materials 
with  which  to  work.  Textbooks  are  needed  and 
reference  material  must  be  provided.  Material 
must  be  supplied  for  handwork  of  various  sorts. 
Teacher’s  manuals  are  needed.  Maps,  charts,  and 
other  necessary  means  of  making  the  work  of  the 
school  successful  should  be  supplied.  No  attempt 
is  being  made  here  to  give  a  complete  list.  This 
will  be  presented  in  more  detail  in  subsequent  chap¬ 
ters.  These  items  all  cost  money  and  must  be 
provided  for  in  the  budget. 

3.  Building.  If  a  building  is  available,  free  of 
rental,  this  item  need  have  no  place  in  the  budget. 
It  may  be  necessary,  however,  to  pay  for  janitor 
service.  For  example,  a  public  school  building  or 
a  church  can  be  secured  free  of  rental  with  a  pro¬ 
vision  that  janitor  service  be  paid  for.  If  so,  this 
item  should  be  taken  care  of  in  the  budget.  Money 
spent  to  secure  a  well  kept  building  is  well  spent. 
A  few  dollars  thus  expended  will  secure  clean, 
wholesome  surroundings.  Do  not  try  to  economize 
at  this  point  at  the  expense  of  the  welfare  of  the 
children.  Remember,  “ Cleanliness  is  next  to  God¬ 
liness.” 

4.  Equipment.  Proper  seating  is  essential  in  any 
school.  Seats  should  be  comfortable  and  adapted 
to  the  work  to  be  carried  on.  Tables  should  be 
provided  for  the  work  requiring  this  kind  of  equip¬ 
ment.  These  and  other  necessary  items  of 
equipment  will  be  discussed  in  Chapter  VI.  An 
estimate  should  be  made  of  the  cost  of  each  item 
and  necessary  funds  provided. 

Making  a  budget. — Make  a  list  of  all  the  items 

5i 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 

t 

involving  expense.  Then  make  a  careful  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  each  item.  For  example,  the  number 
of  books  needed  by  the  teachers  and  pupils  should 
be  stated  and  the  cost  of  each.  Material  for  hand¬ 
work  should  be  estimated  and  the  cost  stated.  Every 
item  of  expense  should  be  thus  separately  listed. 

In  making  up  the  budget  in  this  way,  make  a 
list  of  all  the  items  needed.  Do  this  even  if  you 
do  not  expect  to  be  able  to  secure  enough  money 
to  purchase  everything  listed.  When  the  list  has 
been  completed  it  should  be  gone  over  carefully  to 
see  whether  any  necessary  items  have  been  omitted. 

Expenditure  of  funds. — The  budget  will  contain 
a  list  of  all  the  items  of  expense  and  the  cost  of 
each.  It  now  remains  for  the  principal  or  other 
person  responsible  to  compare  the  total  amount  of 
the  budget  and  the  actual  amount  of  money  avail¬ 
able.  If  enough  has  been  secured  to  pay  for  all 
the  items  listed  in  the  budget,  all  that  is  necessary 
is  to  go  ahead  and  make  the  purchases.  Unfor¬ 
tunately,  however,  in  some  instances  this  will  not 
be  the  case.  The  amount  of  money  provided  in 
cash  and  subscriptions  may  be  less  than  is  needed. 
Here  arises  the  necessity  of  making  further  effort 
to  secure  the  funds  needed.  Effort  or  lack  of  it 
at  this  point  may  make  the  difference  between  a 
good  school  and  a  poor  one.  If  after  further  effort 
is  made  not  enough  money  is  available  for  the 
purchase  of  all  the  items,  selection  will  have  to  be 
made.  The  list  should  be  gone  over  carefully  again 
and  those  selected  which  are  most  important.  The 
point  to  be  emphasized  here  is,  spend  the  money 
for  those  things  most  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
school. 


52 


PLANNING  THE  BUDGET 


Securing  funds. — The  raising  of  funds  should 
be  completed  before  the  date  set  for  the  opening  of  the 
school.  See  to  it  that  the  necessary  amount  is  pro¬ 
vided  either  in  cash  or  reliable  pledges.  This  should 
be  done  long  enough  before  the  school  opens  to 
enable  you  to  have  all  necessary  supplies  on  hand 
for  the  first  day. 

The  sources  of  funds  will  depend  upon  circum¬ 
stances.  If  the  school  is  being  conducted  by  a 
single  church,  then  the  membership  of  the  church, 
if  financially  able,  should  furnish  the  funds.  Or,  if 
several  churches  are  cooperating  in  conducting  the 
school,  they  should  jointly  finance  the  school  if 
financially  able  to  do  so.  In  any  case,  the  church 
or  churches  should  be  appealed  to  first  for  financial 
support.  If  possible,  get  the  church  to  include  in 
its  regular  budget  a  definite  amount  for  the  support 
of  the  vacation  school.  In  case  two  or  more  churches 
are  cooperating  get  each  church  to  do  this. 

When  churches  are  not  financially  able  to  sup¬ 
port  the  vacation  schools,  other  means  of  securing 
funds  will  have  to  be  found.  If  the  money  is  raised 
by  subscriptions ,  plans  must  be  made  for  carrying 
on  the  campaign.  Begin  early  by  securing  a  list 
of  names  of  all  persons  from  whom  you  expect  to 
receive  contributions.  See  to  it  that  they  receive 
full  information  concerning  the  purposes  and  needs 
of  the  school.  When  this  is  done,  call  directly  upon 
each  one  either  by  letter  or  in  person,  or  both. 
In  case  a  letter  is  used,  inclose  a  subscription  blank 
requesting  immediate  return.  Since  the  matter  of 
preparing  the  church  and  community  has  already 
beenTaken  up  in  Chapter  III,  no  further  discussion 
at  this  point  is  necessary. 

53 


CHAPTER  VI 


PROVIDING  HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT, 
AND  SUPPLIES 

Vacation  schools  usually  have  no  housing  and 
equipment  of  their  own.  Buildings  and  equipment 
have  to  be  provided  by  those  responsible  for  setting 
up  the  organization.  It  need  not  be  said  that 
this  is  a  very  important  task  and  not  infrequently 
a  rather  difficult  one.  Usually  it  means  that  the 
use  of  buildings  devoted  to  other  purposes  have  to 
be  secured.  Public  school  buildings,  churches,  and 
parish  houses  are  the  chief  sources  of  supply.  Fur¬ 
ther  reference  will  be  made  to  the  use  of  these 
buildings  in  a  later  discussion. 

Suitable  buildings. — In  selecting  buildings  for  the 
use  of  vacation  schools,  certain  standards  should 
be  kept  clearly  in  mind.  It  will  not  always  be 
possible  to  meet  the  standards  completely,  but  their 
application  in  selecting  buildings  will  help  to  secure 
the  best  available.  Insistence  that  these  standards 
be  met  as  far  as  possible  will  also  serve,  looking  to 
the  future,  in  securing  better  housing  for  the  schools. 

i.  Buildings  should  be  accessible  to  the  children. 
Enrollment  will  be  made  up  largely  of  those  who 
live  near  the  building  in  which  the  school  is  held. 
It  should,  therefore,  be  located  as  nearly  as  possi¬ 
ble  at  the  center  of  the  school  population.  Good 
transportation  facilities  extending  in  all  directions 
from  the  school  will  in  effect  serve  to  bring  it  nearer 
the  children,  and  this  fact  must  be  taken  into 

54 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 

account.  But  patronage  from  the  immediate  local¬ 
ity  will  have  to  be  relied  upon  chiefly  to  make  up 
the  enrollment.  The  building  site  is  also  a  factor 
to  be  taken  into  account.  If  a  choice  between 
buildings  is  possible,  the  one  located  in  wholesome 
surroundings  should  be  selected.  Avoid  as  far  as 
possible  noisy  and  congested  localities.  Space 
surrounding  the  building  for  recreational  activities 
is  highly  desirable,  if  indeed  not  quite  indispensable. 
In  a  word,  the  building  should  so  be  located  as  to 
provide  healthful,  wholesome  surroundings  for  the 
children. 

2.  Building  space  should  be  adequate  and  properly 
arranged.  The  vacation  school,  in  common  with 
other  kinds  of  schools,  requires  that  housing  shall 
be  adapted  to  its  program.  If  it  is  desired  to  have 
the  school  meet  by  departments  for  general  exer¬ 
cises  and  worship,  rooms  suitable  to  this  purpose 
must  be  available.  Class  rooms  will  be  needed 
sufficient  in  number  and  size  to  accommodate  the 
various  class  room  groups.  For  example,  if  a  suffi¬ 
cient  number  of  pupils  are  enrolled  in  the  Junior 
Department  to  form  two  or  more  groups  for  the 
purpose  of  study  and  teaching,  a  suitable  room 
should  be  provided  for  each.  When  a  choice  is 
possible,  the  building  should  be  secured  which  will 
provide  for  the  different  sized  groups  and  various 
activities  of  the  school.  The  writer  recalls  a  case 
in  which  a  church  was  being  used  which  was  wholly 
unsuited  to  the  work  of  this  school.  It  had  but  a 
single  room  in  which  the  children  of  all  ages  and 
sizes,  to  the  number  of  more  than  fifty,  were  meet¬ 
ing.  Within  a  short  distance  were  located  two 
other  churches  comparatively  well  equipped,  either 

55 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


of  which  would  have  been  available  for  the  asking. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any  valid  reason 
for  attempting  to  use  the  building  in  which  the 
school  was  being  held,  when  a  much  more  suitable 
one  could  have  been  secured. 

Light  and  ventilation  are  both  of  primary  impor¬ 
tance  in  any  building  used  for  school  purposes. 
A  dimly  lighted  room  is  injurious  to  the  eyes,  if  we 
expect  the  children  to  do  anything  more  than 
merely  listen  to  the  teacher.  A  dark,  dingy  room 
is  also  very  depressing.  This  is  especially  true  of 
its  influence  upon  children.  Not  only  their  eyes 
but  their  spirits  suffer  from  such  surroundings. 
Plenty  of  light  well  distributed  throughout  all  the 
rooms  used  for  school  purposes  is  essential  to  good 
work. 

The  proper  ventilation  of  a  building  also  re¬ 
quires  attention.  In  a  poorly  ventilated  room 
neither  teachers  nor  children  can  do  their  best 
work.  Bad  air  soon  results  in  drowsiness,  headache, 
and  dullness  of  both  mind  and  spirit.  Teachers 
are  apt  to  become  irritable  and  the  pupils  indifferent 
and  restless.  The  health  of  both  teachers  and 
pupils  is  impaired  by  foul  air.  Since  the  promo¬ 
tion  of  the  health  and  happiness  of  children  is  one 
of  our  objectives,  we  should  not  consent  to  use 
buildings  which  in  considerable  degree  defeat  our 
purpose.  It  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  some 
special  ventilating  device  is  necessary.  If  window 
space  is  sufficient  in  amount  and  rightly  distributed, 
this  will  provide  opportunity  for  suitable  ventila¬ 
tion;  but  some  one  must  see  to  it  that  proper  venti¬ 
lation  is  actually  secured. 

Cleanliness  of  buildings  is  another  important 

56 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 


matter.  If  the  rooms  are  not  in  proper  condition 
they  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned  before  the  open¬ 
ing  day  of  the  school.  Floors,  walls,  windows, 
furniture,  and  fixtures  will  need  attention.  Start¬ 
ing  with  a  clean  building  it  should  be  kept  so  day 
by  day.  This  is  not  possible  without  competent 
janitor  service,  which  requires  that  some  person 
be  held  definitely  responsible  for  the  proper  care 
of  the  building.  Floors  should  be  swept  after  the 
close  of  school  each  day.  Each  morning  at  least 
one  hour  before  the  session  begins,  windows  and 
doors  should  be  opened,  and  furniture  and  fixtures 
thoroughly  dusted.  It  is  quite  as  much  the  business 
of  the  principal  to  supervise  the  work  of  the  janitor 
as  it  is  that  of  the  teachers.  Let  it  be  repeated  that 
some  person  must  be  held  definitely  responsible 
for  this  work  and  should  receive  reasonable  com¬ 
pensation  therefor.  The  work  of  the  janitor  should 
be  under  the  supervision  of  the  principal,  the  same 
as  that  of  the  teachers. 

Schoolrooms  should  have  a  cheerful  appearance. 
Whatever  can  be  done  to  brighten  up  a  room  and 
make  it  attractive  is  well  worth  doing.  Pictures 
and  other  suitable  wall  decorations  are  available 
at  small  cost.  If  one  sets  about  it  to  make  a  school¬ 
room  attractive,  it  is  surprising  how  much  can  be 
accomplished  with  small  outlay  of  time  and  money. 
Children  are  keenly  sensitive  to  their  surround¬ 
ings.  If  we  desire  them  to  be  happy  and  cheerful, 
their  environment  must  be  such  as  to  call  forth 
appropriate  response.  If  we  wish  them  to  be  rev¬ 
erent  and  responsive  to  the  beautiful  in  nature  and 
life,  their  immediate  surroundings  must  suggest 
these  things. 


57 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


Adequate  equipment. — A  visit  to  any  high-grade 
public  school  will  reveal  to  the  observer  the  large 
place  that  equipment  has  in  modern  education. 
In  a  trip  throughout  the  building  one  will  observe 
that  seats  and  desks  are  of  different  sizes  for  the 
different  age  groups.  If  measurements  are  taken 
it  will  be  found  that  the  seats  and  desks  are 
arranged  in  such  way  as  to  accomplish  two  things: 
first,  to  make  the  children  comfortable,  and  second, 
to  enable  them  to  carry  on  their  work  most  advan¬ 
tageously.  Aisles  will  also  be  found  to  be  of  uni¬ 
form  width  and  corresponding  to  the  size  of  the 
seats.  The  seats  will  be  placed  in  such  a  way  as 
to  secure  the  best  lighting  and  to  relieve  eye  strain 
as  far  as  possible.  Blackboards  and  charts  are  so 
placed  that  the  work  placed  thereon  can  be  readily 
seen  from  any  point  in  the  room.  Tables  of  proper 
size  and  height  are  provided  for  certain  kinds  of 
work.  These  serve  as  examples  of  adequate  equip¬ 
ment  for  a  schoolroom.  The  point  here  to  be  em¬ 
phasized  is  that  equipment  is  chosen,  as  pointed 
out  above,  with  reference  to  the  comfort  of  chil¬ 
dren  and  in  view  of  the  particular  kinds  of  activ¬ 
ities  that  are  to  be  carried  on.  For  example,  if 
handwork  is  to  be  done,  then  a  place  with  suitable 
equipment  is  provided.  If  children  are  to  study 
and  recite  lessons,  equipment  is  provided  with  this 
end  in  view. 

A  well-equipped  schoolroom  always  suggests  to 
the  observer  the  kind  of  work  to  be  carried  on. 
For  example,  it  is  not  difficult  at  all  to  conclude 
from  the  appearance  of  classrooms  that  history  is 
taught  in  one,  science  in  another,  and  mathematics 
in  still  another.  It  is  even  quite  possible  to  deter- 

58 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 


mine  whether  a  room  is  being  used  to  teach  ancient, 
modern,  or  American  history.  Likewise  the  differ¬ 
ent  equipment  in  different  rooms  makes  it  clear 
that  biology  is  taught  in  one,  physics  in  another, 
and  some  other  branch  of  science  in  a  third.  These 
examples  are  given  to  show  the  widespread  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  principle  that  equipment  must  be 
adapted  to  the  kind  of  school  work  to  be  carried 
on.  It  must  not  only  be  adequate  in  amount  but 
of  the  specific  kind  that  will  be  most  useful  in  doing 
the  particular  thing  in  hand. 

The  principle  stated  above  must  be  observed  in 
equipping  a  vacation  school  as  well  as  any  other 
kind  of  school.  Just  because  it  is  held  during  the 
vacation  period  does  not  make  suitable  equipment 
less  necessary.  Neither  are  results  more  easily 
obtainable  without  equipment  just  because  the 
school  is  held  in  a  church  or  some  other  building 
not  primarily  intended  for  school  purposes.  Chil¬ 
dren  and  the  kind  of  work  they  are  expected  to 
carry  on  are  the  determining  factors.  It  is,  there¬ 
fore,  necessary  in  securing  suitable  equipment  to 
take  into  account  the  number  of  children  to  be 
enrolled,  their  ages,  the  number  and  sizes  of  the 
groups  to  be  formed,  and  the  various  activities 
in  which  they  will  be  engaged.  Having  all  this 
in  mind,  we  should  set  about  it  systematically  and 
persistently  to  secure  the  best  possible  equipment. 
Tables,  chairs,  seats,  desks,  blackboards,  maps, 
charts,  reference  books,  and  other  items  of  equip¬ 
ment  should  be  carefully  listed  and  secured  in 
advance  of  the  opening  of  the  school. 

It  will  not  always,  perhaps,  be  possible  to  secure 
complete  equipment;  but  this  conclusion  should 

59 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


not  be  reached  until  every  reasonable  effort  has 
been  made  to  obtain  it.  We  should  not  accept 
defeat  at  this  point  until  we  have  to  accept  it.  If, 
however,  after  every  reasonable  effort  has  been 
exhausted  it  is  evident  that  we  shall  lack  some 
items  of  equipment,  then  choice  must  be  made 
on  a  basis  of  what  is  most  important.  This  will 
require  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the 
children  and  a  selection  of  equipment  made  on  the 
basis  of  those  needs  which  are  most  pressing. 

Providing  supplies. — No  exact  line  of  demarca¬ 
tion  exists  between  equipment  and  supplies.  For 
convenience  we  classify  those  things  which  are 
more  permanent,  such  as  desks,  blackboards,  maps, 
charts  and  the  like,  as  equipment;  things  less  per¬ 
manent  such  as  pencils,  notebooks,  material  for 
handwork  and  so  on,  are  classed  as  supplies.  It 
is  also  customary  to  include  in  the  latter  list  text¬ 
books  for  teachers  and  pupils.  While  this  distinc¬ 
tion  we  have  just  made  is  not  particularly  important, 
it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  that  a  number  of 
items  which  we  commonly  list  as  supplies  must  be 
provided.  Certain  articles  are  what  we  call  stock 
articles— that  is,  they  are  always  needed  by  the 
pupils  in  carrying  on  their  school  work.  Among 
these  are  textbooks  or  subject  matter  in  some 
other  form  for  the  use  of  pupils  and  teachers.  Paper 
and  pencils  are  needed  for  written  work  and  draw¬ 
ing.  If  any  considerable  feature  is  made  of  drawing, 
special  kinds  of  paper  are  required  and  colored 
pencils  or  other  means  of  coloring  must  be  supplied. 
Materials  suitable  to  the  different  kinds  of  hand¬ 
work  belong  in  the  list  of  necessary  supplies. 
Crayon  must  be  supplied  for  blackboard  work. 

60 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 


These  are  given  merely  as  examples.  Other  articles 
will  be  needed  in  accordance  with  the  various  activ¬ 
ities  carried  on  by  the  different  groups  of  children. 

In  the  list  of  supplies  no  item  is  of  more  impor¬ 
tance  than  textbooks  for  use  by  the  children.  This 
statement,  of  course,  applies  to  children  of  proper 
age  to  use  the  books.  A  safe  standard  to  apply 
to  determine  whether  textbooks  are  necessary  is 
found  in  the  practice  of  the  public  school.  If  the 
children  use  them  in  their  work  there,  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  they  are  old  enough  to 
need  them  in  the  vacation  school.  Suitable  text¬ 
books  in  the  hands  of  these  pupils  should  be 
regarded  as  quite  indispensable  to  the  success  of 
their  work. 

Preparation  has  to  be  made  in  advance  if  sup¬ 
plies  are  available  for  the  opening  day  of  the  school. 
A  good  way  to  go  about  this  is  as  follows:  Make 
a  list  of  all  the  activities  of  each  grade  or  depart¬ 
ment;  in  connection  with  each  activity  listed 
enumerate  the  kinds  of  supplies  needed;  then,  on 
the  basis  of  probable  enrollment,  estimate  the 
required  quantity  of  each.  The  next  step  is  to 
purchase  the  supplies  and  have  them  on  hand  for 
the  work  of  the  first  day.  At  the  close  of  the  first 
day,  a  careful  check  of  the  list  should  be  made  to 
see  whether  anything  has  been  omitted  and  to  find 
out  whether  larger  quantities  will  be  required.  An 
adequate  quantity  of  necessary  supplies  should 
always  be  on  hand  and  ready  to  use  the  moment 
they  are  needed. 

Meeting  the  requirements  of  the  school. — It 

would  seem  that  no  argument  is  necessary  to  sustain 
the  contention  that  reasonable  requirements  of  the 

61 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 

v 

school,  as  to  buildings,  equipment,  and  supplies, 
must  be  met.  Nothing  will  be  gained,  however, 
by  admitting  this  contention,  if  teachers  and  pupils 
are  actually  deprived  of  those  things  upon  which 
the  success  of  the  school  depends.  Knowledge  of 
what  is  needed  must  be  accompanied  by  energetic, 
persistent  effort  to  secure  it. 

Much  is  to  be  said  in  favor  of  using  public  school 
buildings  in  case  they  are  available.  They  were 
constructed  for  school  purposes  and  are  usually 
reasonably  well  equipped.  The  children  are  accus¬ 
tomed  to  their  environment  and  respond  in  cus¬ 
tomary  fashion  in  matters  relating  to  work  and 
discipline.  Objections  to  their  use  by  the  vacation 
school  are,  however,  sometimes  raised.  In  some 
cases  there  seems  to  be  some  doubt  of  the  legality 
of  using  public  school  buildings  for  this  purpose. 
In  other  cases  public  sentiment,  quite  apart  from 
any  question  of  legality,  is  not  favorable  to  their 
use.  On  the  part  of  some  there  is  the  fear  that 
the  principle  of  separation  of  church  and  state  is 
being  violated.  Others  feel  that  the  public  school 
is  disassociated  from  religion  in  the  minds  of  the 
children — that  the  use  of  the  building  tends  to 
secularize  the  work  of  the  vacation  school.  These 
same  objections  are  made  to  the  use  of  public  school 
buildings  by  week-day  church  schools.  Whether  all 
of  these  are  valid  is  perhaps  an  open  question. 
At  least  there  is  much  difference  of  opinion.  In 
any  event,  the  objections  cannot  be  ignored.  The 
objections  in  all  cases  should  be  given  due  con¬ 
sideration  before  decision  is  reached. 

The  objections  made  to  the  use  of  public  school 
buildings  suggest  the  reasons  why  churches  should 

62 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 


be  used.  Public  opinion  supports  their  use.  Asso¬ 
ciations  formed  by  the  children  are  with  the  church. 
Environment  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  is  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  purpose  of  the  school.  It  need  not 
be  said  that  no  such  objections  exist  as  in  the  case 
of  public  schools.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  quite 
a  different  kind.  Occasionally  one  hears  that  the 
use  of  the  church  has  been  denied  because  of  the 
fear  that  the  sacred  building  will  be  profaned. 
Cases  of  this  kind  are  probably  very  rare.  Let  us 
hope  at  least  that  such  is  the  case  and  turn  our 
attention  to  more  weighty  matters. 

In  contrast  to  public  school  buildings,  churches 
are  not  usually  either  constructed  or  equipped 
for  school  purposes.  This  fact  constitutes  a  real 
problem  and  one  very  difficult  of  solution  in  many 
cases.  No  satisfactory  solution  of  this  difficulty 
is  possible  short  of  a  thoroughgoing  reconstruction 
of  buildings  or  construction  of  new  buildings  suit¬ 
able  to  the  needs  of  childhood  and  youth.  In  the 
meantime,  buildings  will  have  to  be  used  which  are 
in  many  ways  unsuitable.  We  should  not,  however, 
accept  this  as  a  permanent  condition  under  which 
vacation  schools  will  be  compelled  to  carry  on 
their  work. 

Making  the  best  of  things. — This  is  precisely 
what  will  be  required  in  the  case  of  many  vacation 
schools.  But  let  us  consider  what  this  means. 
Merely  accepting  things  as  they  are  is  not  making 
the  best  of  them.  We  must  first  of  all  make  the 
things  the  best  it  is  possible  to  make  them.  In 
the  case  of  a  building,  we  should  not  attempt  to 
make  the  best  of  poor  conditions  until  we  are  sure 
that  the  conditions  themselves  cannot  be  made 

63 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


better.  For  example,  if  a  single  room  is  all  that 
is  available  as  a  meeting  place  for  two  or  more 
groups  of  children,  the  use  of  curtains,  serving  as 
partitions,  will  improve  conditions.  Under  these 
conditions,  although  still  unfavorable,  if  teachers 
and  pupils  will  carry  on  their  work  as  quietly  as 
possible,  much  of  the  handicap  under  which  they 
are  working  will  be  overcome.  This  is  one  way 
of  making  the  best  of  things. 

In  the  case  of  inadequate  or  unsuitable  equip- j 
ment  the  same  principle  applies.  The  place  to 
start  to  make  the  best  of  what  we  have,  is  the  point 
at  which  we  have  secured  the  best  equipment 
attainable.  Having  done  this,  attention  should  be 
directed  wholly  to  making  the  best  possible  use 
of  what  we  have.  The  same  thing  can  be  said  of 
supplies,  although  there  is  much  less  reason  for 
lack  of  them  than  in  the  case  of  equipment.  Sup¬ 
plies  involve  comparatively  small  expense,  and  are 
usually  readily  obtainable  on  short  notice.  Lack 
of  intelligent  effort  is  the  chief  cause  of  failure  to 
have  the  necessary  material  for  use  in  carrying  on 
the  work  of  the  school. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  far  too  many  vacation 
schools  are  carrying  on  their  work  under  very 
unfavorable  physical  conditions.  Nothing  is  gained, 
however,  by  merely  finding  fault.  A  workman 
who  has  acquired  the  habit  of  complaining  of  his 
tools  invariably  fails  to  make  the  best  use  of  them. 
Poor  work  becomes  the  standard  and  is  frequently 
due  not  to  the  tools  but  to  the  workman  himself. 
Making  the  best  of  things  requires  first  of  all  the 
right  state  of  mind.  Fully  recognizing  the  limita¬ 
tions  under  which  our  work  must  be  carried  on, 

64 


HOUSING,  EQUIPMENT,  AND  SUPPLIES 


a  determination  to  overcome  them  as  far  as  possible 
is  the  first  step  in  doing  so.  This  must  be  accom¬ 
panied,  of  course,  by  intelligent,  persistent  effort. 
Enthusiasm  rightfully  directed  by  intelligence  will 
not  only  be  a  large  factor  in  overcoming  present 
difficulties,  but  will  also  do  much  to  secure  better 
conditions  for  the  future. 


CHAPTER  VII 


CHOOSING  THE  CURRICULUM 

In  the  last  analysis  the  teacher  is  the  key  to 
successful  work  in  daily  vacation  church  schools 
as  in  other  schools.  The  best  possible  program, 
the  most  suitable  curriculum  can  never  be  a  satis¬ 
factory  substitute  for  good  teaching.  The  curric¬ 
ulum,  the  teachers,  the  whole  atmosphere  and 
conduct  of  the  school  must  be  such  as  will  win  and 
hold  the  confidence,  respect  and  loyalty  of  both 
parents  and  pupils,  ‘otherwise  the  school  cannot 
hope  to  render  the  service  it  is  expected  to  render 
to  boys  and  girls.  However,  the  best  teacher  must 
have  something  to  teach — a  curriculum. 

The  curriculum. — Subject  matter  is  as  necessary 
in  the  field  of  religious  education  as  in  any  other 
phase  of  education.  The  subject  matter  is  found 
primarily  in  the  Bible,  but  much  additional  instruc¬ 
tion  material  is  found  in  the  world  about  us,  and 
in  the  life  and  times  of  those  great  souls  through 
whom  the  Bible  has  through  the  centuries  expressed 
itself  in  human  events.  There  is  no  interest  in  the 
life  of  any  human  being  that  lies  outside  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and,  therefore,  the 
lesson  materials  to  be  used  with  little  children  and 
boys  and  girls  in  the  vacation  church  schools 
must  be  as  wide  in  range  and  rich  in  contents  as 
their  experiences,  needs,  and  capacities  will  justify. 

The  graded  principle. — In  the  chapter  on  organ- 

66 


CHOOSING  THE  CURRICULUM 


izing  the  vacation  church  school  we  see  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  grouping  children  according  to  age,  expe¬ 
rience,  and  capacity.  The  very  purpose  of  such 
grouping  is  that  the  lesson  materials,  the  worship 
program,  and  the  activities  may  be  such  as  will 
make  it  possible  for  the  teachers  to  organize  cir¬ 
cumstances  around  the  pupils  so  that  they  will 
themselves  naturally  and  quickly  respond  to  the 
desire  for  making  something,  doing  something, 
being  something. 

Children  of  the  kindergarten  age  are  altogether 
different  in  their  needs,  interests,  and  capacities 
from  the  children  of  either  the  Primary  or  the 
Junior  groups.  It  must  follow,  therefore,  that 
lesson  materials  chosen  for  any  one  of  these  grades 
will  differ  from  that  chosen  for  any  other.  We 
cannot  have  one  lesson,  whether  it  be  story,  wor¬ 
ship,  or  project  activity,  that  will  fit  all  of  these 
pupils  at  the  same  time. 

At  least  three  groups  will  be  necessary.  One 
group  should  cover  the  years  three,  four,  and  five. 
These  little  children  who  are  unable  to  read  or 
write  receive  most  of  their  ideas,  stimulus,  and 
instruction  from  the  teacher's  words  and  actions. 
Primary  pupils  (six,  seven,  and  eight  years)  can, 
as  a  rule,  read  the  simpler  things  and  are  capable 
of  discovering  and  carrying  on  many  desirable 
activities  themselves.  The  junior  pupil  (nine,  ten, 
and  eleven)  is  very  much  more  mature  than  either 
of  the  other  two  groups  and  capable,  therefore,  of 
discovering,  developing,  and  testing  many  projects 
for  himself.  He  will,  however,  have  very  serious 
need  for  the  most  careful  supervision. 

In  order  to  provide  for  these  groups  many  of 

67 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


the  publishing  houses  are  issuing  materials  pre¬ 
pared  expressly  for  use  with  these  distinctive  age 
groups.  Before  determining  what  lesson  materials 
will  be  used  in  any  school,  the  leaders  of  the  school 
should  approach,  first,  their  own  denominational 
headquarters,  asking  for  help  and  guidance  in  this 
selection.  In  the  end  the  selection  should  be  made 
solely  on  the  basis  of  getting  the  best  materials 
available,  no  matter  where  they  are  published. 
The  child's  needs  are  the  first  consideration. 

Standards  of  choice. — In  studying  the  materials 
now  available  for  use  in  these  schools  and  in  deter¬ 
mining  which,  if  any,  of  these  will  be  used,  certain 
standards  or  tests  may  be  applied. 

1.  Is  the  range  of  material  as  wide  as  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  group  of  children  with  whom  the  lessons 
are  to  be  used? 

2.  Is  the  material  really  adapted  to  the  par¬ 
ticular  group  for  whom  it  is  intended?  That  is, 
does  it  present  Bible  truths  and  life  factors  in  a 
wholesome  and  natural  way  so  that  the  child  who 
comes  in  contact  with  these  materials  will  find 
himself  in  a  familiar  atmosphere,  finding  through 
familiar  everyday  circumstance  a  loving,  heavenly 
Father,  an  attractive  world  in  which  to  live  and  a 
chance  to  express  himself  in  loving  service  therein? 

3.  Are  the  ideals  of  conduct,  as  revealed  in  the 
stories,  the  activities,  the  worship,  the  play,  such 
as  are  desirable  in  the  development  of  Christian 
master-motives?  Is  the  material  offered  so  related 
to  the  home  life,  the  church  life,  the  school  and 
community  life  of  the  pupil  that  all  of  these  will 
be  made  more  attractive  to  him  and  he  himself 
more  attractive  in  them? 

68 


CHOOSING  THE  CURRICULUM 


4.  The  deductions  of  childhood  are  immediate 
and  logical.  The  lesson  material,  therefore,  must 
contain  only  such  ideas,  ideals,  and  suggestions 
as  the  child  mind  can  clearly  understand  and  imme¬ 
diately  apply  in  his  daily  living.  Personal  conduct, 
such  as  consideration  for  others,  cleanliness,  order¬ 
liness,  unselfishness,  truthfulness,  these  and  a  host 
of  other  virtues  must  be  directly  resultant  from 
the  lesson  materials  used. 

5.  Is  the  material  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to 
create  a  desire  for  more?  Is  the  child  led  from 
expectancy  to  greater  expectancy? 

It  must  be  clear  that  in  the  choice  of  curriculum 
material,  only  such  materials  wTill  be  used  as  will 
help  boys  and  girls  to  develop  habits  of  right  think¬ 
ing,  right  speaking,  right  doing.  Proper  perspective 
must  be  maintained  so  that  out  of  the  subject 
matter  will  naturally  grow  the  desire  to  carry  on 
in  the  home,  in  the  community,  and  within  the 
school  itself  projects  of  helpfulness,  consideration, 
improvement  of  conditions,  and  the  like. 

Curriculum  material,  if  it  fails  to  carry  over  into 
life,  is  not  only  inadequate  but,  in  many  instances, 
positively  harmful.  The  imagery,  the  ideals  that 
remain  in  the  mind  of  the  child  after  he  has  been 
in  contact  writh  the  lessons  of  the  day,  must  be 
desirable,  stimulating,  and  compelling. 

The  final  test  of  all  curriculum  material  is  its 
ability  to  develop  in  boys  and  girls  habits  of  right 
conduct  and  to  help  them  to  establish  standards  of 
choice  that  are  desirable,  thus  to  build  in  them  a 
Christian  master  motive. 

Each  teacher  should  be  provided  not  only  with 
the  actual  lesson  material  for  the  grade  which  she 

69 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


is  teaching  but  for  the  preceding  and  for  the  follow¬ 
ing  grades  so  that  she  may  know  that  for  which 
she  is  preparing  them.  Access  ought  to  be  had 
also  to  as  many  library  books  as  her  time  and 
energy  will  permit  her  to  study  in  order  that  she 
may  bring  to  her  pupils  the  enrichment  of  a  wider 
range  of  information  than  her  own  lesson  book  can 
possibly  provide.  The  chapter  on  “Equipment  and 
Supplies”  has  indicated  the  additional  equipment 
that  she  will  need  for  her  pupils. 

The  teacher  and  the  curriculum  together  must 
be  so  carefully  selected  that  boys  and  girls  who 
come  in  contact  with  them  will  be  increased  “in 
wisdom  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man”  at  the 
same  time  that  their  bodily  functions  are  increased 
through  the  operation  of  the  natural  law. 

The  teacher,  the  curriculum,  and  the  school 
must  be  so  planned  as  to  hold  a  greater  number 
and  make  a  larger  contribution  than  the  street 
else  the  children  will  not  be  found  in  the  school. 

Lesson  materials  for  use  in  vacation  church  schools 
may  be  obtained  of  your  church  school  supply  house. 


70 


CHAPTER  VIII 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 

This  is  a  school  and  must  be  conducted  with 
promptness,  regularity,  dignity.  Children  respect 
and  prefer  orderliness.  This  necessitates  carefully 
prepared  daily  programs. 

Each  school  must  prepare  its  own  program.  No 
school  however  large,  however  small,  can  con¬ 
ceivably  carry  on  a  worthwhile  piece  of  work  with¬ 
out  a  careful,  thought-out  orderly  arrangement  of 
groups,  lesson  materials,  daily  schedule. 

Points  of  view. — With  reference  to  the  daily 
program,  there  are  two  points  of  view: 

(a)  The  parallel  course  method.  One  considers 
each  factor  of  the  program  as  a  unit  when  con¬ 
sidered  in  the  light  of  the  entire  school;  that  is  to 
say,  music  will  be  a  complete  unified  course  taught 
at  a  certain  period  each  day  throughout  the  entire 
school.  Craft  work  will  be  another  course  unified 
and  carried  on  at  another  period  throughout  the 
entire  school.  Thus  each  course  becomes  a  thing 
in  itself,  running  through  the  entire  school.  This 
makes  the  school  program  something  of  the  nature 
of  a  layer  cake  bound  together  by  the  principal  of 
the  school  and  iced  over  by  a  common  location, 
equipment,  and  general  spirit. 

(b)  The  group  course -method.  The  second  point 
of  view  thinks  of  the  school  program  as  an  inter¬ 
related  series  of  activities  built  for  each  day  around 

7i 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


a  common  theme,  which  is  itself  a  part  of  a  larger 
theme,  which  may  run  for  a  week  or  two  weeks. 
According  to  this  view,  the  music,  the  story  lesson 
material,  the  craft  work,  the  devotional  period, 
recreation,  and  all  the  other  elements  of  the  pro¬ 
gram  for  the  day  will  be  so  closely  articulated  that 
each  grows  out  of  their  dependence  upon  the  other. 
Thus  any  child  who  has  passed  through  the  pro¬ 
gram  on  any  day  has  had  a  central  idea  brought 
before  him  from  many  points  of  view,  some  of  which 
are  of  his  own  group.  The  tendency,  at  the  present 
time  in  the  educational  world,  is  toward  the  latter 
view  because  it  is  more  in  harmony  with  the  laws 
and  principles  of  human  development. 

Correlation  of  daily  program. — In  any  case,  the 
courses  must  have  the  elements  of  unity,  coher¬ 
ence,  progress,  and  adaptation. 

(a)  Unity.  The  course  must  be  a  complete 
whole.  Any  pupil  who  has  had  the  training  offered 
in  music,  biblical  material,  or  other  course  must 
have  completed  some  recognizable  unit  of  work; 
that  is  to  say,  the  pupil’s  mind  must  have  been 
carried  through  to  the  completion  of  some  definite 
part  of  the  work  in  hand.  He  must  have  learned 
a  complete  hymn,  to  know  all  the  Joseph  stories, 
to  have  completed  some  kind  of  related  craft 
work. 

(b)  Coherence.  Not  only  must  the  course  be  a 
unit,  but  the  different  parts  of  it  must  be  related 
to  and  develop  out  of  each  other  so  that  the 
inevitable  deductions  of  the  child,  from  the  ma¬ 
terials  offered,  will  be  desirable  and  closely  related; 
for  instance,  he  must  see  how  cause  and  effect  are 
related;  he  must  appreciate  the  significance  of  prac- 

72 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 


tice,  memorization,  understanding  of  the  meaning 
of  the  words  to  the  finished  singing  of  a  hymn. 

(c)  Progress.  Moreover  the  course  must  make 
progress.  It  must  move  from  simpler  to  more 
difficult  things.  The  pupil  at  the  end  of  the  vaca¬ 
tion  school  should  be  capable  of  greater  appre¬ 
ciation,  a  little  closer  attention,  take  larger 
initiative  as  a  result  of  the  course  which  he  is 
studying. 

(d)  Adaptation.  In  addition  to  all  of  these,  the 
course  must  be  adapted  to  the  number  of  pupils, 
the  nature  of  the  pupils,  whether  they  are  normal, 
subnormal,  precocious,  foreign-speaking,  residential, 
industrial,  etc.  The  course  must  take  into  account 
the  equipment,  the  housing,  the  number  and  train¬ 
ing  of  the  teachers  and  the  previous  contacts  the 
pupil  has  had  with  moral  and  religious  instruction. 
All  of  these  elements  are  of  peculiar  significance 
when  it  is  realized  that  from  forty  per  cent  to  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  children  in  the  vacation  church 
school  have  been  untouched  by  any  other  religious 
educational  agency. 

What  is  true  of  the  separate  course  itself  is  doubly 
true  of  the  daily  program.  Each  element  of  the 
program  ought  naturally  and  inevitably  to  grow 
out  of  the  preceding  element;  it  ought  to  lead  up 
to  and  prepare  for  that  which  follows;  for  instance, 
the  immediate  outgrowth  of  the  worship  period 
ought  to  be  an  atmosphere  of  interested  anticipation 
for  those  things  which  have  to  do  with  the  lesson 
and  other  activities  of  the  day.  It  ought  to  create 
the  kind  of  atmosphere  in  which  wholesome  and 
delightful  human  relationships  exist  and  in  which 
the  spirit  and  work  of  the  school  becomes  sur- 

73 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


charged  with  vital  spiritual  significance.  Craft 
work  should  be  the  immediate  outgrowth  of  the 
story  or  more  formal  instruction  of  the  day  or  the 
week.  The  project,  presented  through  story  and 
song  or  other  channel  of  instruction,  ought  to 
eventuate  in  purposeful  pupil  activity.  Thus  the 
whole  work  of  the  whole  session  becomes  in  the 
mind  of  the  child  the  outgrowth  of  the  central 
idea  of  the  day. 

The  daily  theme. — The  theme  for  the  day,  in 
turn,  is  a  definite  portion  of  the  theme  covered  by 
the  work  of  the  entire  week  or  perhaps  longer. 
This  makes  possible  the  grouping  of  music,  recre¬ 
ation,  expressional  activities  about  a  compelling 
idea,  part  of  which  is  wrought  into  the  lives  of 
pupils  each  day  during  a  period  of  time.  Some 
ideas  are  large  enough  to  require  five,  six,  or  eight 
days;  others  can  be  compassed  in  much  shorter 
time.  The  idea  is  not  always  centered  in  the  story 
period.  It  may  be  centered  in  the  expressional 
period  as,  for  instance,  when  the  school  is  giving 
its  attention  to  some  community  enterprise  such  as 
“clean-up  week,”  or  “national  week,”  with  the 
Fourth  of  July  as  the  pivotal  point  and  other 
similar  ideas.  Sometimes  it  will  be  a  conduct  idea 
such  as  consideration  for  others,  courtesy,  and  the 
like.  Sometimes  it  will  be  the  promotion  of  Sunday 
school  enrollment  and  attendance.  Sometimes  it 
will  be  built  around  a  Bible  character.  In  any 
event,  the  determining  factor  in  the  building  of  the 
program  will  be  the  idea  which  the  program  is 
intended  to  build  into  the  lives  of  the  children  of 
the  school. 

The  elements  of  the  program.— Whatever  daily 

74 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 


program  may  be  adopted,  at  least  the  following 
elements  will  find  their  place  therein: 

(a)  Devotional  expression  and  training. 

(b)  Music — devotional,  patriotic,  and  general. 

(c)  Stories — Bible,  missionary,  and  conduct. 

(d)  Handcraft — dramatization  and  other  expres- 

sional  activities. 

(e)  Recreation. 

Devotional .  There  will  be  included  in  this  period 
the  greetings,  the  hymns,  prayers,  Scripture,  and 
any  other  fitting  devotional  element.  In  each  in¬ 
stance  every  item  of  the  period  will  be  adjusted  to 
the  age  range  of  the  pupils  involved.  There  can 
be  no  worship  without  participation,  therefore  the 
music  selected,  the  prayers  offered,  the  Scripture 
used,  the  discussion  or  story  will  of  necessity  be 
within  the  range  of  the  needs,  interests,  and  capac¬ 
ities  of  these  pupils.  The  greatest  care  should  be 
exercised  to  see  that  no  possible  idea,  expression, 
or  attitude  can  come  in  contact  with  the  boys  and 
girls  which  may  not  properly  become  a  permanent 
part  of  their  lives,  therefore  jazz  music  or  hymns 
with  words  that  are  beyond  the  experience  of  the 
pupils  will  never  be  used.  Such  music  and  words 
as  are  used  will  be  of  the  highest  character  and 
worthy  of  a  place  in  the  memory  of  wholesome 
Christian  boys  and  girls.  For  upon  these,  perhaps, 
some  time  will  depend  the  making  of  a  choice  in 
some  climactic  emergency.  The  whole  purpose  of 
the  worship  period  is  to  bring  both  pupil  and  teacher 
into  close  personal  contact  with  their  heavenly 
Father  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  direction  and  spir¬ 
itual  vitality  to  all  the  activities  of  the  day  both 
in  and  out  of  school. 


75 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 

Music.  This  period  is  intended  to  teach  boys 
and  girls  how  to  sing  as  well  as  what  to  sing.  Per¬ 
haps  no  more  real  contribution  can  be  made  through 
the  vacation  school  than  the  knowledge  of  and  the 
skill  to  sing  the  great  hymns  of  the  church,  the 
masterpieces  of  patriotic  music  and  the  delightful 
folk  songs  of  the  ages.  The  child’s  memory  should 
be  stored  with  the  gems  of  music  and  words  that 
will  enrich  their  own  thinking  and  become  the 
basis  of  inspiration,  uplift,  and  personal  enjoyment. 
In  the  conducting  of  the  music  period,  the  teacher 
must  be  assured  that  each  pupil  has  an  opportunity 
in  participating  both  by  contact  with  the  words 
and  music  through  the  chart,  book,  or  other  visional 
method,  and  that  the  child’s  personal  capacity  in 
this  direction  is  as  fully  developed  as  circum¬ 
stances  permit.  It  ought  to  be  remembered,  how¬ 
ever,  that  hymns  cannot  be  practiced  and  used 
for  devotional  purposes  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
Hymns  and  other  exercises,  learned  during  the 
music  period,  may  be  used  during  the  devotional 
period  for  devotional  purposes. 

In  schools,  made  up  largely  of  children  of  foreign¬ 
speaking  parents,  in  industrial  sections  and  in 
schools  in  the  open  country  or  small  villages,  the 
musical  element  is  of  supreme  importance. 

The  following  chapter  will  indicate  methods  by 
which  a  single  musical  instrument  can  be  used  to 
serve  the  needs  of  the  entire  school  where  more 
than  one  is  not  available. 

Story  or  class  period .  This  period  will,  of  course, 
be  conducted  separately  for  each  group,  as  one 
story  generally  will  not  serve  to  minister  to  the 
vital  needs  nor  carry  a  vital  message  to  all  the 

76 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 


children  of  all  the  ages.  The  stories  will  be  Bible, 
missionary,  cultural,  and  conduct.  In  any  event, 
the  story  will  be  related  vitally  with  the  theme  of 
the  day.  Sometimes,  perhaps,  the  theme  of  the 
day  will  grow  out  of  the  story  itself.  Sometimes 
the  story  will  provide  the  major  element  of  the 
developing  theme.  Sometimes  the  story  will  be 
used  to  aid  the  pupil  in  the  discovery  of  the  theme. 
In  any  event,  it  will  be  so  integrated  with  the 
other  elements  of  the  program  for  the  day  that  it 
unmistakably  grows  out  of  all  that  has  preceded 
and  finds  its  full  fruition  in  what  follows.  The 
teacher  or  teachers  whose  specialty  is  storytelling 
will  always  make  it  a  point  to  see  that  the  most 
effective  methods  are  employed  at  this  point  in  the 
program. 

Sometimes  the  story  is  a  supplemental  or  illus¬ 
trative  element  in  connection  with  the  teaching  of 
a  more  formal  lesson.  The  use  of  the  narrative, 
however,  will  be  found  perhaps  the  most  effective 
means  of  instruction. 

Expressional  activities.  These  include  handcraft, 
dramatics,  service  activities,  and  the  various  forms 
of  purposeful  pupil  participation.  It  is  clear  that 
the  weaving  of  baskets,  the  making  of  dresses, 
may  not  of  themselves  be  religious  educational 
elements  unless  they  become  in  the  mind  of  the 
child  a  means  to  accomplish  a  desirable  spiritual 
end.  The  activity  itself  has  intrinsic  interest  and 
value  but  when  the  activity  through  the  choice 
of  the  child  becomes  the  channel  through  which  he 
expresses  his  desires  for  service,  which  grows  out 
of  the  story  or  lesson  of  the  day,  then  the  activity 
rises  to  the  dignity  of  spiritual  expression. 

77 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


The  expressional  element  may  find  more  than 
one  channel. 

(a)  It  may  take  the  constructive  channel  in  which 
the  idea  is  transferred  from  the  mind  into  some 
concrete  expression  such  as  a  bird  house,  in  the 
making  of  which  the  child  becomes  the  instrument 
of  a  loving  heavenly  Father  in  caring  for  the  feath¬ 
ered  folk. 

(b)  It  may  find  expression  in  the  desire  of 
development  of  personal  skills  in  order  that  more 
effective  service  may  be  rendered  such  as  learn¬ 
ing  to  sew,  to  cook,  or  some  other  helpful  skill. 

(c)  It  may  take  the  form  of  dramatic  repro¬ 
duction  of  the  lesson,  in  order  that  others  may 
share  in  the  discovery  of  the  truth  involved. 

(d)  It  may  find  expression  in  the  desire  to  increase 
social  activity  through  recreation  or  other  form  of 
“good  time,”  such  as  teaching  games.  Those  whose 
previous  experience  has  not  contained  directed 
play  elements  thus  become  helpers  as  well  as 
receivers  in  this  form  of  expression.  One  part  of 
the  class  may  be  used  to  do  this  for  another  part. 

Care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  whatever  the 
expressional  activity  may  be  and  through  what¬ 
ever  channel  it  may  issue,  the  child  himself  clearly 
understands  the  relationship  of  the  activity  to  the 
theme  of  the  day.  In  order  that  this  may  be  clear 
to  him,  most  often  the  pupil  himself  will  be  afforded 
the  opportunity,  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher, 
to  determine  the  activity,  to  fix  the  goal,  and  with 
the  aid  of  the  teacher  discover  the  means  of  accom¬ 
plishing  the  objective.  The  teacher  must  lead  in 
the  application  of  the  standards  of  accuracy  and 
correctness  which  shall  test  the  work  of  the  pupil. 

78 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 


Recreation.  The  length  and  content  of  this  period 
will  be  determined  by  the  age,  interests,  and  capac¬ 
ities  of  the  pupils  involved.  The  place  of  play  in 
the  educative  process  has  become  increasingly  clear 
in  these  latter  days.  Wise  teachers,  therefore,  will 
appreciate  the  necessity  for  careful  selection  and 
supervision  of  play  activities  so  that  the  period 
does  not  descend  into  mere  “fooling  around.”  More 
frequently  than  not,  the  play  element  may  con¬ 
tain  a  vital  part  of  the  instruction  related  to  the 
theme  of  the  day;  for  instance,  when  some  mis¬ 
sionary  story  has  been  told,  the  games  of  boys  and 
girls  of  similar  age  in  the  country  involved  may  be 
played  at  the  recreational  period,  thus  increasing 
the  appreciation  and  developing  the  spirit  of  brother¬ 
hood  among  the  children. 

The  recreational  period  should  result  in  refreshed 
bodies,  alert  minds,  increased  conduct  control, 
enlarged  capacities,  and  consideration  and  team  play. 

Beginning  and  closing  periods. — There  will,  of 
necessity,  need  to  be  a  preliminary  period  to  the 
school  day  and  a  closing  period.  The  pre-session 
period  is  the  one  in  which  the  teacher  and  helpers 
arrange  the  rooms,  materials,  and  other  necessities. 
It  contains  a  brief  period  for  prayer  and  discussion 
of  the  work  of  the  day  so  that  the  teacher  or  teachers 
and  the  helpers  may  meet  the  arriving  children 
with  dignity,  with  steadiness,  with  graciousness  and 
with  assurance. 

The  closing  period  is  equally  important.  Some¬ 
times  the  entire  school  is  assembled  for  this  very 
brief  period.  A  few  quiet  words,  the  necessary 
announcements,  a  brief  prayer,  sometimes  preceded 
by  the  salute  to  the  flag.  In  the  larger  schools  this 

79 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


closing  period  will  be  held  separately  by  depart¬ 
ments  or  groups.  It  should  be  a  part  of  the  daily 
program  of  every  school. 

Length  of  period. — The  amount  of  time  allotted  to 
each  one  of  the  elements  described  above  will  be 
determined  by  the  age,  capacity,  and  number  of 
pupils  involved.  Very  young  children  do  not  have 
the  power  of  close  attention  for  much  more  than 
ten  or  twelve  minutes,  therefore  the  program  would 
of  necessity  contain  many  more  items  than  that 
for  the  older  children  with  whom  the  time  allot¬ 
ment,  very  much  less  broken,  averages  thirty  or 
forty  minutes  given  to  the  elements  named  above. 
Wise  teachers  will  discover  that  flexibility  at  this 
point  is  of  very  great  help.  When  children  have 
grown  tired  or  lost  interest,  the  next  item  on  the 
program  should  be  taken  up  immediately,  or  the 
nature  of  the  work  being  carried  on  must  be  so 
changed  as  to  command  the  attention  and  interested 
participation  of  the  pupils.  When  the  participation 
of  the  pupil  ceases,  the  educative  process  is  at  an 
end  for  him  and  he  becomes  forthwith  a  menace 
to  the  situation  from  the  standpoint  of  discipline. 

In  rural  schools. — In  planning  the  daily  program 
for  schools  held  in  the  open  country  or  very  small 
rural  villages,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  careful 
attention  to  the  circumstances  of  the  village  or 
country  home  conditions.  Children  on  the  farm 
will  have  certain  duties  to  perform  in  early  morn¬ 
ing,  around  the  noon  hour,  and  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  afternoon.  Any  program  built  for  children 
thus  involved  must  take  all  of  these  factors  into 
account.  In  many  instances  there  will  be  long 
distances  to  travel.  The  men  will  be  busy  in  the 

80 


PLANNING  THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 


fields  and,  unless  there  is  a  woman  who  can  drive 
a  car,  more  than  likely  the  children  will  walk  to  the 
school.  The  opening  hour  and  closing  hour  must 
take  this  into  account. 

Sometimes  it  will  be  found  very  much  more 
satisfactory  to  use  the  public  school  building  for 
rural  vacation  school  work.  In  this  case,  extreme 
care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  the  rights  of  no 
group  within  the  community  are  in  any  way  vio¬ 
lated.  The  school,  in  order  to  maintain  the  sep¬ 
aration  of  church  and  state,  must  needs  pay  a 
rental  fee  for  the  use  of  the  school  building. 

Directed  play,  picnics,  hikes,  and  outdoor  activ¬ 
ities  are  as  interesting  and  attractive  to  childhood 
in  the  open  country  as  to  childhood  in  the  con¬ 
gested  city. 

Tests  of  the  daily  program. — There  are  many 
tests  that  can  be  applied  to  a  daily  program.  Among 
them  certainly  the  following  will  be  found.  These 
should  be  applied  fearlessly  and  frequently  to  the 
daily  program  in  use  in  the  school: 

(a)  Can  it  be  used  without  rushing  the  pupils; 
that  is,  is  there  time  for  deliberate  action? 

(b)  Does  it  fit  the  housing,  equipment,  and 
leadership?  A  program  may  be  ideal  from  the 
standpoint  of  unity,  coherence,  and  progress,  but 
unless  it  is  adapted  to  the  local  conditions  it  may 
be  a  real  impediment. 

(c)  Does  it  make  adequate  provision  for  the 
interests  of  each  age  group? 

The  following  chapter  will  show  the  arrangement 
of  time  schedule  in  the  conduct  of  the  school  session. 


81 


CHAPTER  IX 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 

In  Chapters  II  and  IV  the  aims  of  the  church 
school  and  the  organization  through  which  these 
aims  are  to  be  accomplished  were  discussed.  It 
was  made  clear  that  a  school  must  have  a  prin¬ 
cipal,  director,  or  other  supervising  officer.  In 
Chapter  VIII  we  learned  how  to  plan  a  daily  pro¬ 
gram,  reaching  in  that  discussion  the  point  where 
that  program  was  to  be  developed  into  a  daily  time 
schedule. 

We  must  not  forget  a  statement  made  pre¬ 
viously,  that  this  is  a  school  and,  therefore,  the 
children  will  expect  orderliness,  promptness,  and 
regularity.  They  will  also  expect  sympathetic  firm¬ 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  in  the  maintenance 
of  school  standards.  Any  failure  in  these  quarters 
means  the  failure  of  the  school,  because  in  the 
minds  of  the  children  the  school  is  not  what  its 
name  implies  that  it  is.  No  substitute  can  take 
the  place  of  the  confidence  of  the  child  concerning 
the  project  in  which  he  is  expected  to  take  a  part. 
In  the  present  chapter,  therefore,  we  will  see  how 
the  conduct  of  the  school  session  may  contribute 
to  the  end  that  the  school  may  be  winsome,  uplift¬ 
ing,  illuminating,  and  challenging. 

The  activities  of  the  school  session  will  revolve 
around  the  principal,  the  teachers,  the  helpers,  the 
pupils.  The  machine  through  which  all  of  these 
persons  attempt  to  accomplish  the  aim  of  the  school 

82 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


comprises  the  lesson  materials ,  the  school  equipment , 
the  daily  schedule ,  and  the  teaching  methods.  The 
lesson  materials  and  teaching  force  have  been  dis¬ 
cussed  in  preceding  chapters. 

Length  of  session. — As  indicated  above,  the 
school  session  ranges  in  length  from  one  to  three 
hours  in  the  morning.  Sometimes  there  is  a  second 
session  in  the  afternoon  given  over  largely  to  directed 
play  and  other  supervised  expressional  activities. 
The  average  school  session,  however,  is  about  two 
and  one  half  hours.  Most  schools  have  just  one 
session,  the  morning  session. 

The  length  and  number  of  sessions  must  be 
determined  in  the  light  of  the  local  conditions. 
Obviously  where  the  children  must  travel  long 
distances  to  reach  the  school  the  sessions  may  be 
somewhat  shorter.  This  will  occur  most  frequently 
in  vacation  schools  in  the  open  country  or  in  sec¬ 
tions  where  the  project  is  being  put  on  by  a  single 
agency  such  as  the  Church  Federation,  Daily  Vaca¬ 
tion  Bible  School  Association,  or  an  individual 
church,  and  where  children  must  go  far  to  reach 
the  school. 

However,  even  in  rural  sections  where  trans¬ 
portation  in  busses  to  the  school  is  provided,  as  is 
done  in  a  number  of  places,  the  length  of  the  ses¬ 
sion  will  not  be  materially  changed.  In  some  rural 
communities,  the  parents  have  expressed  their 
willingness  to  use  their  own  automobiles  for  trans¬ 
portation  rather  than  have  the  children  miss  the 
benefit  of  the  longer  school  session.  At  Fort  Atkin¬ 
son,  Wisconsin,  for  instance,  this  resulted  in  an 
average  attendance  of  ninety-one  per  cent  of  the 
children  during  the  five  weeks’  session  of  the  school. 

83 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


There  are  other  factors,  of  course,  which  enter 
into  the  consideration  of  this  matter — where  children 
are  engaged  in  home  duties  during  the  earlier  hours 
and  at  noon.  The  session  must  accommodate  itself 
to  that  situation  unless  the  conditions  can  be 
changed.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  experience  shows 
that  the  average  length  of  session  noted  above  is 
probably  the  most  successful. 

The  principal. — Naturally  the  burden  of  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  daily  schedule  rests  upon  the  prin¬ 
cipal  or  director,  whose  characteristics  and  duties 
have  been  indicated  in  a  previous  chapter.  The 
wisdom  of  this  officer  will  be  shown  by  his  willing¬ 
ness  to  master,  if  not  already  in  command  of  them, 
the  principles  and  methods  of  administration  and 
supervision,  since  upon  his  capacity  to  win  the 
loyalty,  cooperation,  and  enthusiastic  support  of 
his  teachers  will  depend  very  largely  the  spirit  and 
effectiveness  of  the  school.  Frequently  an  untrained 
worker,  under  the  supervision  of  a  tactful,  gracious, 
understanding  principal,  may  be  developed  into  a 
really  effective  teacher.  Certainly  the  pupil  helpers 
in  the  school  must  have  the  most  sympathetic,  wise, 
and  closest  possible  supervision  and  direction.  The 
promptness,  regularity,  the  “go”  of  the  school, 
its  snap  and  vigor  will  be  dependent  upon  the 
principal  or  director. 

In  many  schools,  where  there  are  but  two  or 
three  teachers,  one  of  these  will  of  necessity  act  as 
principal.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  no  genuine 
supervisional  work  can  be  carried  on  by  an  indi¬ 
vidual  who  is  not  free  to  study  the  teachers  in  action. 

Fixing  responsibilities. — Prior  to  the  opening  day 
of  the  school,  the  principal,  the  other  teachers  and, 

84 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


if  possible,  the  helpers  of  the  school  should  be 
assembled  for  a  thorough  discussion  of  all  the 
details  of  the  school  program  and  its  administration. 
Each  teacher  and  helper  must  know  exactly  what 
his  responsibilities  are  and  how  they  relate  to  the 
program  of  the  entire  school.  That  is  to  say,  the 
teacher  whose  specialty  is  music  must  understand 
clearly  how  the  music  program  integrates  with  the 
program  of  the  school.  She  must  be  so  familiar 
with  the  plan  for  conducting  the  departmental  or 
school  sessions  that  without  announcement  or  other 
device  she  will  fit  into  that  program  unobtrusively 
and  therefore  effectively. 

When  teachers  or  officers  overemphasize  them¬ 
selves  or  their  office,  it  is  clear  that  the  best  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  school  take  secondary  position.  “Each 
for  all  and  all  for  each,”  must  be  the  working  motto 
of  teachers  and  officers. 

When  the  general  work  of  the  school  is  made 
clear,  then  the  principal  and  teachers  will  plan  the 
details  of  the  daily  program,  determining  the  length 
of  each  period,  its  content,  the  grouping  of  the 
children,  the  enrollment  in  the  classes,  the  methods 
and  time  of  checking,  the  reports  of  attendance, 
activities,  needs,  and  other  items  of  interest.  How¬ 
ever  large  or  small  the  school,  it  will  be  necessary 
that  these  steps  be  taken  in  order  to  insure  the 
smooth  running  of  the  school  program. 

Grouping. — In  working  out  the  daily  schedule, 
careful  attention  will  be  given  to  the  discussion  of 
grouping  as  set  forth  in  a  previous  chapter.  Cer¬ 
tainly  no  average  school  can  operate  with  fewer 
than  three  groups;  namely,  the  Kindergarten  Group 
for  children  under  the  first  grade;  the  Primary  Group 

85 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


for  children  of  six,  seven,  and  eight,  or  the  first 
three  grades;  and  a  junior  group  of  nine,  ten,  and 
eleven,  or  grades  under  the  junior  high. 

The  One- Room  School 

The  daily  schedule  for  schools  meeting  in  one 
room  and  for  those  meeting  in  more  than  one  room 
will  differ  in  adjustment  but  not  in  principle.  The 
school  of  one  teacher  and  the  school  of  many  teachers 
likewise  will  differ  in  adjustment  but  not  in  prin¬ 
ciple.  The  training  in  worship,  the  instruction,  and 
the  expressional  needs  of  the  child  must  be  the 
determining  factors  in  arranging  the  groups.  Chil¬ 
dren  of  similar  interests,  needs,  and  capacities  must 
be  put  into  the  same  group  in  order  to  serve  them 
effectively. 

In  the  one-room,  one-teacher  school,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  time  schedule  may  afford  a  basis  for  plan¬ 
ning  the  daily  program: 

1.  Pre-session  Period — 20  to  30  minutes. 

2.  Worship  Period — 15  minutes. 

3.  Class  Period — 35  minutes. 

4.  Music  Period — 20  minutes. 

5.  Recreation  and  Play  Period — 15  minutes. 

6.  Purposeful  Activity  Period — 35  minutes. 

7.  Closing  Period — 10  minutes. 

The  one  hundred  and  fifty  minutes  in  a  two  and 
one  half  hour  session  thus  will  be  occupied  by  one 
hundred  and  thirty  minutes  of  directed  activity, 
twenty  minutes  being  allotted  for  change  from 
one  form  of  activity  to  another  between  periods. 

Pre-session  period. — Twenty  minutes  or  more 
prior  to  the  hour  at  which  the  school  session  opens, 
the  teacher  and  the  helpers  should  assemble  at  the 

86 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


school.  The  room  should  be  arranged  in  order, 
materials  and  equipment  for  the  day’s  use  organ¬ 
ized  and  placed  at  convenient  points,  and  the 
detail  of  the  daily  schedule  gone  over  so  that  the 
teacher  may  be  assured  everyone  is  in  readiness  for 
the  day’s  work.  This  having  been  done,  a  brief 
prayer  session  for  and  by  the  teacher  and  helpers 
will  be  held.  Thus  the  leaders  of  the  school  go  out 
to  meet  the  children  quietly  and  with  the  glow  of 
immediate  contact  with  the  heavenly  Father  in 
their  faces.  Perhaps  nothing  more  effective  than 
this  can  be  done  to  insure  the  desired  attitude  on 
the  part  of  the  pupils  as  the  school  day  begins. 

Worship  period. — In  this  type  of  school  the  wor¬ 
ship  period  and  the  closing  period  will  doubtless 
of  necessity  be  conducted  as  a  general  assembly, 
as  may  also  the  music  and  play  periods.  This 
arrangement  will  depend,  however,  upon  the  number 
and  dependability  of  the  pupil  helpers.  If  there 
are  a  sufficient  number  of  older  pupils,  say  of  twelve 
years  or  more,  the  worship  period  may  be  adjusted 
so  that  while  the  teacher  is  conducting  the  worship 
with  the  kindergarten  group,  the  two  older  groups 
may  be  engaged  in  some  purposeful  activity,  per¬ 
haps  the  completion  of  some  bit  of  craftwork  held 
over  from  the  preceding  session.  Similar  activity 
will  then  be  carried  on  by  the  kindergarten  group 
while  the  primary  and  junior  groups  together  are 
having  their  worship  session.  Wherever  possible,  at 
least  two  groups  should  be  arranged  for  the  wor¬ 
ship  period. 

(a)  Separating  the  groups.  It  will  be  necessary, 
of  course,  to  arrange  for  some  kind  of  separation 
during  this  period.  This  is  a  somewhat  difficult 

8? 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


matter.  But  it  has  been  done  successfully.  In 
suitable  weather,  send  the  other  group  out  to  the 
church  lawn  or  to  the  school  playground.  On  rainy 
or  cold  days  send  them  to  the  work  tables.  In  the 
latter  case,  screens  or  curtains  are  used  so  that 
the  children  at  the  tables  can  neither  see  others 
nor  be  seen  by  others.  This  affords  the  element  of 
seclusion  to  the  worshiping  group  even  though 
those  behind  the  curtain  or  screens  must  necessarily 
hear  all  that  is  going  on. 

(b)  The  worshipful  attitude.  Principals  and  teach¬ 
ers  must  see  to  it  that  during  the  worship  period 
there  is  the  atmosphere  of  reverent  but  cheerful 
anticipation.  Here  are  a  group  of  children  whose 
loved  and  respected  teacher  is  accompanying  them 
in  their  intimate  companionship  with  the  loving 
heavenly  Father  and  gracious,  tender,  Saviour 
Friend.  Unless  joy  and  brightness  are  found  in 
this  period,  it  will  have  failed  in  giving  the  proper 
conception  of  the  worshipful  relation  of  a  child  to 
his  heavenly  Father.  But  joy  and  brightness  must 
never  be  confused  with  so-called  “pep”  and  “jazz.” 
These  are  a  real  hindrance  to  genuine  worship. 

For  this  reason,  the  music,  the  words  used  in 
connection  therewith,  the  prayers,  the  Scripture, 
the  story  talk  must  be  within  the  range  of  child 
understanding  and  childhood  experience.  There 
are  great  hymns  and  wondrous  passages  filled  with 
vital  spiritual  truth  for  children.  There  are  equally 
great  hymns  and  passages  that  have  absolutely  no 
place  in  a  worship  program  with  children.  The 
program  guides,  in  most  instances,  give  careful 
instruction  and  suggestion  in  regard  to  this  matter. 
Principals  and  teachers,  in  planning  the  details  of 

88 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL-  SESSION 


the  worship  period  of  the  daily  program,  will  not 
fail  to  secure  the  very  best  possible  guidance  at 

this  point. 

Class  period. — The  class  period  should  be  con¬ 
ducted  separately  for  each  group.  In  the  one-room 
school,  the  group  being  instructed  will  be  on  one 
side  of  the  screens  or  curtain,  the  remainder  of 
the  school  will  be  on  the  other  side  or  outdoors 
in  charge  of  the  older  pupils,  who  are  the  official 
helpers  of  the  teacher.  Under  the  direction  of 
these  pupils,  the  children  will  carry  on  the  activ¬ 
ities  which  have  been  planned  specifically  for  that 
day  and  period. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  this  period  is  of 
about  thirty-five  minutes’  duration,  it  will  be  seen 
how  necessary  is  the  careful  itemizing  of  the  things 
to  be  done.  This  list  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  pupil  assistants.  Each  of  these  assistants  or 
helpers  should  know  the  names  of  the  boys  or  the 
girls  for  whom  he  is  specifically  responsible.  Each 
of  the  children  should  know  to  whom  he  should  look 
for  guidance  and  help  during  this  period.  It  is 
recognized,  of  course,  that  in  any  instance  the 
class  work  with  primary  and  junior  groups  will 
have  to  be  carried  on  as  one  course,  at  least  during 
the  story-telling  portion  of  the  class  period.  Cer¬ 
tainly  any  expressional  activities  growing  out  of 
the  story-telling  period  will  require  closer  age 
groups.  In  a  program  of  this  sort  it  is  clear  that 
the  periods  for  music,  worship,  class  instruction, 
and  so  on  cannot  occur  at  the  same  hour  for  all 
of  the  groups,  since,  while  the  kindergarten  group 
is  having  its  worship,  the  other  group  may  be  having 
a  portion  of  its  purposeful  activity  period,  and 

89 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


so  on,  unless  it  be  necessary  to  combine  the  entire 
school  for  worship,  play,  or  music.  Even  then 
the  utmost  effort  must  be  made  to  secure  the  sep¬ 
aration  indicated  above  by  using  older  pupil  helpers. 

The  music  period. — A  method  similar  to  that 
suggested  for  the  class  period  for  securing  sep¬ 
aration  of  age  groups  may  be  employed  during* the 
music  period.  Of  course,  in  a  one-room  school 
there  will  be  just  one  musical  instrument  and  it 
may,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  have  the  music 
period  as  a  school  group. 

There  may  be  some  older  pupils  capable  of  play¬ 
ing  the  piano  or  organ  so  that  the  teacher  is  left 
free  to  direct  the  musical  operations.  In  schools 
in  foreign-speaking  sections,  it  is  possible  that  neither 
the  older  nor  the  younger  children  will  be  familiar 
with  some  of  the  musical  numbers  suggested  in  the 
program  guides  for  the  different  groups.  In  this 
case  the  entire  school,  doubtless,  would  be  assem¬ 
bled  for  musical  instruction.  Generally  speaking, 
however,  separation  of  the  kindergarten  group 
from  the  older  ones  is  desirable.  Obviously,  when¬ 
ever  possible,  any  group  not  engaged  in  music 
should  be  sent  outdoors,  when  weather  permits,  since 
they  will  be  unable  to  do  anything  like  effective  or 
satisfactory  work  during  the  music  period  even 
though  they  be  behind  screens  or  curtain.  The 
teacher  must  of  course  take  careful  forethought 
and  give  explicit  direction  to  the  pupils  who  are  in 
charge  of  the  outdoor  group  so  that  the  time  shall 
not  be  wasted.  Thus  the  activities  there  carried 
on,  whether  they  be  dramatization,  directed  play,  or 
the  learning  of  new  games,  will  prove  both  helpful 
and  desirable.  This  will  be  one  more  concern  of 

90 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


the  teacher  who  is  carrying  as  heavy  a  load  as  the 
teacher  of  the  one-room  school  must  carry.  She 
must  be  principal,  director,  supervisor,  and  teacher 
all  in  one. 

Recreation  and  play  period. — During  this  period 
the  teacher  in  the  one-room  school  will  find  her 
only  opportunity  for  relaxation,  and  this  will  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  capacity  of  her  helpers  to  carry  out 
effectively  the  instructions  she  may  give.  The 
children  must  of  necessity  have  games  to  fit  their 
interests  and  capacities,  the  smaller  children  being 
grouped  by  themselves,  the  older  ones  by  them¬ 
selves,  and  so  on.  Sometimes  it  will  be  necessary 
to  separate  the  older  boys  from  the  older  girls. 
The  program  guides  for  the  daily  sessions  will 
indicate  from  day  to  day  the  actual  games  that 
may  be  used  during  this  period.  The  pupils  and 
helpers  may  select,  subject  to  the  teacher’s  approval, 
such  plays  and  games  as  they  think  fit  the  lesson 
of  the  day  and  that  the  children  may  enjoy.  Dur¬ 
ing  this  period,  too,  the  pupils  themselves  ought 
to  have  increasingly  large  opportunity  to  choose  the 
things  they  would  like  to  do.  It  is  a  period  of 
relaxation  and  ought  to  afford  both  refreshment 
and  stimulation. 

The  kindergarten  children,  during  the  succeeding 
period,  will,  of  course,  have  opportunity  for  con¬ 
tinued  recreational  activities.  Moreover,  they  will 
doubtless  be  provided  with  a  soda  cracker  and  a  glass 
of  water  or  milk  (preferably  the  latter).  The 
teacher’s  chief  concern  will  be  to  see  that  the  period 
is  not  abused  and  that  the  children  do  not  play 
any  one  game  so  long  as  to  become  tired  of  it  nor 
overexert  themselves.  The  opportunity  to  teach 

9i 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


consideration,  kindness,  helpfulness,  and  fair  play 
during  this  period  is  very  great.  The  pupil  helpers 
will  be  of  great  value  in  the  conduct  of  the  period. 

The  purposeful  activity  period. — This  is  given 
over  to  the  smaller  groups  carrying  on  their  own 
chosen  activities,  some  of  them  at  tables,  others 
dramatizing  or  doing  some  form  of  constructive 
work  that  may  be  carried  on  by  the  individual 
working  alone.  During  this  period,  especially  in  one- 
room  schools,  the  older  pupils  will  be  used  to  teach 
the  younger  pupils  certain  things  such  as  weaving, 
knitting,  sewing,  the  use  of  the  scroll  saw,  knot 
tying,  and  other  similar  activities  related  to  the 
theme  of  the  day.  Such  a  time  schedule  as  that 
on  page  93  might  be  worked  out  for  a  teacher  of 
a  one-room  school. 

The  closing  period. — After  having  rearranged  the 
school  equipment  and  having  stored  away  the 
materials  used  during  the  day  pupils  in  the  room 
will  have  their  chairs  arranged  facing  the  platform 
and  attention  centered  in  the  teacher.  A  few 
quiet  words  or  a  brief  story,  the  necessary  announce¬ 
ments,  a  closing  sentence  or  benediction  in  con¬ 
cert,  or  perhaps  a  salute  to  the  American  flag  or 
to  the  Christian  flag,  or  sometimes  a  very  brief 
prayer  will  constitute  this  period. 

In  one-room  schools  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
separate  the  groups  for  an  effective  closing  period. 
Care  must  be  taken,  however,  as  in  the  worship 
period,  that  the  children  are  not  fussing  about  caps, 
hats,  or  articles  of  clothing  or  standing  with  one 
foot  aimed  in  the  direction  of  the  door  so  as  to  be 
the  “first  out”  at  the  conclusion  of  the  session.  An 
attitude  of  grateful  reverence  on  the  part  of  the 

92 


93 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


teacher  and  her  helpers  will  greatly  assist  toward 
securing  the  desired  attitude. 

The  Larger  Schools 

Grouping. — In  the  larger  schools  there  are  sep¬ 
arate  age  groups,  as  suggested  in  previous  chapters, 
and  doubtless  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers  to 
provide  at  least  one  leader  for  each  group.  There 
should  be  separate  programs  for  each  group  for 
the  entire  session,  except  perhaps  the  closing  period 
of  the  school  day  when  the  entire  school  may  be 
assembled  and  the  principal  conduct  the  period  as 
suggested  above.  The  size  of  classes  will  vary  with 
the  age  of  the  pupils  and  the  number  of  teachers 
available. 

Class  grouping. — It  is  safe  to  say  that  where 
practicable  the  classes  within  the  age  group  as 
kindergarten,  primary,  junior,  ought  to  be  so  ad¬ 
justed  in  size  that  at  least  fourteen  square  feet 
of  floor  space  per  pupil  are  available.  The  teacher’s 
capacity  is  another  factor  determining  the  size  of 
the  class.  The  nature  of  the  period,  too,  is  involved 
in  this.  The  membership,  the  size,  and  the  teacher 
for  each  class  will  be  determined  by  the  principal 
or  director  in  conference  with  the  teachers  of  the 
school.  So  far  as  possible,  each  of  the  teachers 
ought  to  have  older  pupils  as  helpers  in  carrying 
on  their  work.  Certainly  no  school  with  more  than 
one  teacher  will  operate  less  than  three  groups, 
namely,  kindergarten  (4  and  5  years),  primary 
(6,  7,  and  8  years),  and  junior  (9,  10,  £nd  11  years). 
Each  of  these  groups  will  be  subdivided  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  period  and  the  demands  of 
the  activities  therein;  thus  during  the  recreation  or 

94 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


play  period,  the  children  will  be  grouped  in  teams 
or  other  desirable  groups  according  to  the  games 
to  be  played.  During  the  purposeful  activity  period, 
the  project  will  determine  the  grouping.  During  the 
music  period  perhaps,  or  the  worship  period  the 
entire  group  may  be  led  as  a  unit.  In  all  grouping 
the  determining  factors  are  the  need  of  the  pupil 
and  his  participation. 

In  the  final  determination  of  the  daily  time 
schedule,  the  principal  wTill  depend  largely  upon 
the  chief  teacher  of  the  age-group,  since,  where  an 
age  group  has  two  or  more  teachers,  one  of  these 
will  be  recognized  as  the  chief  teacher  for  the  group 
— a  sort  of  group  principal  or  superintendent. 
Associated  with  this  teacher  will  be  the  other  teachers 
and  pupil  helpers.  The  following  diagram  indicates 
the  distribution  of  responsibilities. 

School  Principal  or  Director 


Teachers  of  the  School 
Older  Boy  and  Girl  Helpers 


Kindergarten 

(4-5) 

Primary  (6,  7,  8) 

Junior  (9, 10,  n) 

Chief  Teachers 

Chief  Teacher 

Chief  Teacher 

/ 

■  / 

/ 

Assistants 

Assistants 

Assistants 

/ 

/ 

/ 

Pupil  Helpers 

Pupil  Helpers 

Pupil  Helpers 

Suggested  Programs: 

8 :  30-8 :  40  Assembly  of  teachers  and  workers, 

arrangement  of  equipment  and 
plans. 

95 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


8 :  50  Devotional  service-teachers  and 

workers. 

9:  00  Formal  opening  of  school,  with  pro¬ 

cessional  of  children  from  out¬ 
doors  where  possible,  each  age  group  marching  to 
its  own  department  room  or  location.  Here  the 
chief  teacher  takes  charge.  Older  pupils  acting  as 
monitors  during  the  processional  will  see  that 
pupils  quietly  and  satisfactorily  reach  the  proper 
place. 

Following  this,  beginning  about  9:  05,  each  depart¬ 
mental  group  will  carry  on  its  program  as  sug¬ 
gested  in  the  program  guides  provided  by  the  various 
publishing  houses  for  the  group.  The  discussion  of 
the  elements  of  the  daily  program,  found  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  will  guide  principal  and  teachers 
in  the  final  determination  of  the  items  placed  upon 
the  daily  schedule.  Experience  has  shown  that 
it  is  advisable  to  rearrange  the  time  schedule  where 
practicable  at  least  twice  during  a  five-weeks, 
period.  This  avoids  monotony. 

The  International  Association  of  Daily  Vacation 
Bible  Schools  suggests  in  its  1923  Prospectus  the 
following  daily  schedule,  beginning  at  nine  o’clock. 

9:00  Processional,  worship,  hymn,  Bible  verses, 
prayer. 

9:  20  Story,  usually  missionary,  to  be  followed  by 
an  offering  for  missionary  purposes. 

9:  30  Story  having  to  do  with  conduct. 

9:40  Music. 

10:  00  Bible  story  and  class  period. 

11:00  Purposeful  activity  period. 

1 1 :  50  Closing  period,  including  salute  to  the  Amer¬ 
ican  flag  and  to  the  Christian  flag. 

96 


CONDUCTING  THE  SCHOOL  SESSION 


It  is  suggested  that  the  above  program  be  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  each  of  the  age  groups. 

Chapter  IV  in  Gage,  How  to  Conduct  a  Church 
Vacation  School ,  gives  in  minute  detail  the  daily 
programs  suggested  by  each  of  the  denominations,  by 
the  Federation  of  Churches,  and  by  the  Interna¬ 
tional  Association  of  Daily  Vacation  Bible  Schools. 
Knapp,  The  Community  Daily  Vacation  Bible 
School ,  Chapter  VII,  presents  the  International 
Association  program  and  the  Presbyterian  program. 
Both  of  these  books  contain  many  helpful  sugges¬ 
tions  relative  to  the  work  of  principal  and  teachers 
in  daily  vacation  Bible  schools.  Probably  one  of 
the  most  suggestive  books  in  this  field  is  Stafford, 
The  Vacation  Religious  Day  School.  The  minute 
detail  contained  in  this  book  makes  it  a  valuable 
assistant  to  officers  and  teachers  preparing  their 
own  daily  schedule  and  program.  In  the  last 
analysis,  every  school  must  prepare  its  own  schedule, 
since  the  purpose  of  program  and  schedule  making 
is  to  adjust  materials  and  methods  to  the  conditions 
of  the  school  and  the  needs  of  the  pupils. 


97 


CHAPTER  X 


RELATING  THE  SCHOOL  TO  HOME, 
CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 

The  daily  vacation  church  school  is  recognized 
as  a  supplemental  agency.  The  home  has  the 
primary  responsibility  for  religious  education.  The 
most  effective  teacher  of  religion  is  the  mother  in 
the  home.  There  can  be  no  real  substitute  for 
the  mother-teacher  of  religion  in  the  home.  Condi¬ 
tions,  however,  warrant  the  church  in  supplementing 
her  efforts  in  the  wider  contacts  that  come  out¬ 
side  the  home.  The  church  does  this  through  its 
various  activities.  Whatever  these  activities  may 
be,  they  are  in  addition  to,  and  not  instead  of, 
what  goes  on  in  the  home. 

Unfortunately,  very  many  homes  afford  no  real 
religious  education.  Thus  we  must  look  upon  the 
vacation  church  school  as  an  educational  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  enlarge  the  program  and  add  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  desirable  activities  in  the  field  of  religious 
education.  It  places  emphasis  upon,  provides  in¬ 
struction,  and  practice  in,  Christian  conduct.  If 
properly  carried  on,  such  schools  will  increase  the 
participation,  the  efficiency,  and  the  interest  of  the 
pupils  in  the  activities  of  home,  of  local  church,  and 
of  community.  Obviously  this  is  possible  only  when 
the  vacation  church  school  plans  are  intimately 
correlated  with  the  home,  church,  and  community 
conditions.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  see  what  the 

98 


HOME,  CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 

points  of  cooperation  are  and  how  correlation  can 
be  worked  out. 

There  are  reciprocal  relations  both  as  to  oppor¬ 
tunity  and  obligation  as  between  the  vacation 
church  school  and  other  agencies  dealing  with  child 
life  in  the  community. 

Relation  to  the  home. — The  center  of  child  life 
is  or  ought  to  be  in  the  home.  Any  agency  that 
tends  to  divert  attention  and  loyalty  from  the 
home,  whether  this  be  deliberate  or  unconscious, 
ought  seriously  to  question  the  nature  and  object 
of  its  program.  The  home  ought  to  be  able  to  look 
upon  the  vacation  church  school  as  a  friend  and 
helper,  in  providing  for  the  best  interests  of  its 
children. 

(a)  The  vacation  school  provides  a  safe,  comfort¬ 
able,  and  desirable  place  for  the  child  during  the 
free  summer  days.  In  congested  centers,  this  means 
physical  safety  since  the  motor  truck  and  pleasure 
vehicles  have  made  streets  so  very  dangerous. 

It  likewise  affords  a  place  of  moral  safety  since 
the  children  are  constantly  in  the  presence  of  high 
ideals  of  thought  and  conduct.  Parents  are  glad 
to  have  a  place  to  which  children  may  go  without 
leaving  behind  anxiety  and  serious  concern  for 
physical  and  moral  safety.  “One  mother  said,  Tt 
is  worth  while  .if  for  only  a  few  hours  my  child  can 
be  kept  away  from  the  dangers  and  evil  of  the 
streets.’  ” 1 

(b)  As  a  training  camp  in  desirable  attitudes 
and  the  development  of  the  homely  virtues  of  kind¬ 
ness,  promptness,  thoughtfulness,  helpfulness,  truth¬ 
fulness  and  such  like,  the  vacation  church  school 

1  Clausing  in  The  Sunday  School  Journal,  April  23,  1923. 

99 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


maintains  a  most  helpful  relation  to  the  home.  The 
writer  saw  recently  the  pupils  of  a  church  school 
actually  carrying  on  in  dramatized  form  the  activ¬ 
ities  of  a  day  in  the  home.  There  was  the  early 
morning  call  to  the  children  to  awake;  the  dressing, 
the  washing  of  faces  and  hands,  the  brushing  of 
teeth,  the  attention  to  hair  and  other  needful  items 
of  appearance,  the  aid  offered  to  mother  in  the 
preparation  of  the  morning  meal,  the  assembly  at 
the  table,  the  quiet  moment  of  spoken  grace,  the 
many  items  of  interested  conversation  at  the  table 
having  to  do  with  the  lessons  of  the  day,  other 
interests  and  activities  in  the  church  school  and 
the  many  homely  items  that  come  up  for  discussion 
at  the  family  table.  We  heard  the  directions  of 
“mother”  to  each  one  as  to  what  he  might  do  to 
make  her  burdens  for  the  day  more  light,  and  of 
how  a  surprise  for  father  might  be  developed  upon 
his  return  at  eventide,  tired  from  the  day’s  activ¬ 
ities.  The  errands  to  be  run  and  all  the  various 
activities  were  the  “common  round  and  trivial  task” 
of  the  ordinary  home.  It  was  a  genuine  delight 
to  see  the  eager  minds  of  children  reaching  out  to 
find  ways  in  which  they  might  be  helpful  and  kind, 
generous  and  thoughtful  to  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters  and  those  outside  the  home  circle  and  to  all 
the  animal  friends.  The  opportunity  which  the 
vacation  church  school  affords  for  developing  right 
attitudes  is  one  that  makes  it  a  genuine  asset  to 
the  home. 

(c)  In  similar  manner,  the  vacation  church 
school  may  aid  boys  and  girls  in  developing  skill 
in  the  various  household  arts  in  which  little  hands, 
feet,  and  bodies  need  to  be  trained.  This  will  be 


ioo 


HOME,  CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 


limited  only  by  the  physical  equipment  of  the 
school.  Sewing,  cooking,  gardening,  carpentry,  and 
other  similar  occupational  skills  provide  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  at  this  point. 

(d)  The  vacation  school  may  actually  contribute 
to  the  beauty,  both  social  and  physical,  of  home 
life.  Many  homes  have  been  helped  to  establish 
the  custom  of  the  family  altar,  of  grace  at  meals, 
the  bedtime  prayer  of  children,  the  telling  of  stories, 
the  playing  of  games.  The  writer  has  in  his  desk 
the  photograph  of  a  little  Slovak  child  who  tells 
to  her  parents  each  evening  the  “beautiful  Bible 
story”  which  she  hears  during  the  day  at  the  church 
school.  A  Jewish  lad  gathers  together  the  children 
of  his  immediate  neighborhood  too  small  to  attend 
the  church  school.  Immediately  upon  his  return 
from  its  session,  he  tells  them  the  story  and  directs 
them  in  the  activities  in  which  he  himself  has  had 
the  joy  of  participating.  “A  little  child  shall  lead 
them.” 

(e)  Through  the  vacation  church  school  teacher 
or  visitor  very  many  homes  have  been  aided  in 
beautifying  home  conditions.  Some  of  the  articles 
which  the  children  have  made  at  school  have  been 
made  with  relation  to  such  project.  Sometimes  in 
discussing  the  individual  children,  the  vacation 
school  representative  can  be  of  genuine  help  to  the 
worried  mother.  Particularly  in  industrial  or  con¬ 
gested  sections  these  home  relationships  are  espe¬ 
cially  important.  The  opportunity  to  the  wise  and 
tactful  visitor  is  almost  unlimited.  In  return,  where 
proper  relationships  have  been  established,  intelli¬ 
gent  insight  into  the  program  and  purposes  of  the 
vacation  church  school  results  in  hearty  coop- 

IOI 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


eration  in  the  matter  of  promptness  and  regularity 
of  attendance  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  any 
home  work  which  may  be  assigned. 

Relation  to  the  local  church. — The  reciprocal 
relationship,  between  the  local  church  and  the 
vacation  church  school,  will  be  dependent  in  a 
measure  upon  the  character  of  the  school.  Where 
the  school  is  of  the  community  type,  the  relation¬ 
ship  will  be  no  less  intimate  but  slightly  less  direct. 
Where  the  school  is  interdenominational,  the  rela¬ 
tionship  is  more  direct.  Where  the  school  is  put 
on  by  a  church  or  churches  of  a  single  denomina¬ 
tion  it  is  purely  a  church  family  matter.  The 
program  and  activities,  therefore,  will  be  developed 
very  largely  on  the  basis  of  the  program  of  the 
church  or  churches  involved  in  the  support  and 
conduct  of  the  school.  This  inter-relationship  of 
whatever  character  affords  splendid  opportunity  for 
mutual  helpfulness. 

(a)  The  pastor.  The  pastor  is  the  responsible 
religious  educational  head  of  the  local  church. 
All  the  pastors  of  all  the  churches  thus  are  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  knowledge  of  conditions,  the  declaration 
of  principles,  the  initiation  of  any  movements  look¬ 
ing  toward  the  development  of  a  Christian  com¬ 
munity.  This  includes  not  only  the  reaching  of 
every  individual  within  the  community  with  the 
gospel  message  but  also  the  development  of  every 
individual  in  habits  of  Christian  conduct.  The 
responsibility  and  authority,  vested  in  the  pastor 
by  virtue  of  his  position,  can  be  exercised  effectively 
only  when  pastor  and  pupil  work  together  in  plan¬ 
ning  and  executing  acceptable  projects  in  the  field 
of  religious  education.  Each  pastor,  therefore,  for 

102 


HOME,  CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 


himself  will  in  the  nature  of  the  case  need  to  dis¬ 
cover  the  specific  relationship  which  he  maintains 
to  his  vacation  church  school.  He  has  indeed  the 
obligation  to  see  that  the  school  is  a  school  and 
makes  an  actual  contribution  to  the  home  life,  the 
church  life,  and  the  community  life  through  its 
ministry  to  childhood  and  youth.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  pastor  will  recognize  in  the  vacation 
church  school  a  “splendid  opportunity  to  come  in 
contact  with  and  make  the  personal  acquaintance 
of  boys  and  girls  who  have  no  other  church  rela¬ 
tionships.  One  of  the  functions  of  the  school  is 
to  associate  the  non-church  boys  and  girls  with  the 
church  leaders,  with  church  buildings,  with  church 
programs  and  with  boys  and  girls  who  are  actually 
related  to  all  of  these.  Moreover,  they  will  recognize 
that  for  the  church  school  to  be  of  largest  value 
it  must  be  organized  in  accord  with  sound  educa¬ 
tional  principles.  If  these  are  observed,  the  evan¬ 
gelistic  results  will  be  large.  ‘A  large  class  of  these 
young  persons  were  received  into  the  church  member¬ 
ship  as  a  direct  result  of  our  school.’  ”1 

When  it  is  recalled  that  the  most  careful  records 
have  been  made  concerning  each  pupil  on  the 
record  blank,  showing  his  name,  age,  public  school 
grade,  church  affiliation  or  preference  if  any,  name 
of  Sunday  school  teacher  and  organizations  belonged 
to,  it  will  be  seen  that  these  records  or  duplicates 
thereof  in  the  hands  of  the  pastor  of  the  church 
preferred  become  an  instrument  of  inestimable  value 

for  following  up  the  church  school.  The  wise  pastor 
does  not  need  suggestions  of  this  character. 


1 Administrative  Manual  Daily  Vacation  Church  Schools  (Booklet),  Methodist 
Board  of  Sunday  Schools. 

103 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


(b)  The  Sunday  school  superintendent,  the  mis¬ 
sionary  superintendent  and  librarian,  the  director 
of  religious  education  find  in  the  vacation  church 
school  a  very  real  asset.  In  fact  anyone,  whether 
officer  or  teacher,  interested  in  reaching  the  largest 
possible  number  of  children  and  youth  through 
their  Sunday  school  program  will  be  able  to  reach 
through  this  agency  very  many  children  who  could 
not  be  brought  into  the  school  through  the  ordinary 
methods  of  enrollment.  Teachers  in  the  vacation 
school  generally  make  it  a  point  to  get  the  un¬ 
churched  children  into  contact  with  the  pastor, 
officers  or  teachers  of  the  church  of  their  parents’ 
inclination  or  choice.  Missionary  superintendents 
and  librarians  will  find  the  children  acquainted  with 
missionary  stories,  missionary  dramatics,  and  some 
information  concerning  missionary  activities.  These 
may  be  capitalized  during  the  Sunday  services  by 
having  the  children  repeat  the  dramatization,  retell 
the  stories,  or  by  using  their  information  as  a  means 
of  arousing  interest  in  books  having  to  do  with 
the  program  of  world  brotherhood.  This  is  espe¬ 
cially  true  of  the  children  of  the  beginners,  primary, 
and  junior  departments. 

(c)  In  the  matter  of  Sunday  school  enrollment, 
promptness,  and  regularity  of  attendance,  and  in 
the  capacity  of  children  to  participate  in  the  open¬ 
ing  service  of  worship,  the  Sunday  school  will  find 
the  vacation  church  school  a  very  real  help,  pro¬ 
viding  the  Sunday  church  school,  on  its  part, 
recognizes  its  obligation  and  does  all  in  its  power 
to  increase  the  attendance  and  interest  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  Sunday  school. 

(d)  Many  schools  have  special  summer  service 

104 


HOME,  CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 


activities.  This  may  be  a  part  of  a  larger  denom¬ 
inational  or  inter-denominational  program.  In  any 
event,  the  vacation  school  will  be  glad  to  render 
any  possible  assistance  by  way  of  instruction  and 
training,  development  of  attitudes  and  skills  so  that 
this  work  may  more  effectively  be  accomplished  in 
the  local  church.  In  order  to  do  this,  however, 
it  is  essential  that  vacation  church  school  leaders 
shall  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  purposes 
and  activities  involved.  Conferences  of  leaders, 
having  knowledge  of  the  desired  points  of  coopera¬ 
tion,  and  respect  and  confidence  for  it,  will  make 
the  vacation  school  a  genuine  help  to  the  local 
church  program. 

Relation  to  the  community. — Whether  the  vaca¬ 
tion  church  school  be  put  on  as  a  community,  inter¬ 
denominational  or  denominational  project,  it  has 
certain  definite  relations  to  the  community.  There 
are  very  many  things  about  the  homes  of  the  chil¬ 
dren,  and  the  churches  and  the  community  much 
in  need  of  being  done.  They  may  be  such  things 
as  children  can  do.  Under  the  guidance  of  the 
teacher,  children  can  be  led  to  discover  these  things 
apparently  for  themselves.  Thus  the  activities  be¬ 
come  projects  which  are  in  the  nature  of  helpful 
service  carried  on  by  the  children  of  the  school. 
Careful  planning  on  the  part  of  the  school  author¬ 
ities  through  the  Board  or  Council  of  Religious 
Education,  with  the  local  Chambers  of  Commerce, 
Rotary,  Kiwanis,  or  other  community  agencies  will 
yield  a  rich  harvest  of  things  to  be  done  by  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  vacation  school.  The  reciprocal  obliga¬ 
tion,  however,  of  support,  interest,  and  enthusiastic 
commendation  must  not  be  overlooked. 

105 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


(a)  Productive  play.  In  thinking  about  com¬ 
munity  and  all  other  service  enterprises,  it  needs 
to  be  recalled  by  leaders  that  the  discovery  of  the 
need  is  itself  an  educative  process  and  develops 
attitudes  toward  the  permanent  agencies  of  the 
community  which  are  most  desirable.  More  than 
that,  the  spirit  of  play,  which  finds  its  fullest  satis¬ 
faction  in  constructive  activity,  may  easily  be 
transferred  to  the  helpful  things  which  children  may 
do  in  the  community.  The  writer  has  seen  groups 
of  boys  and  girls  from  vacation  schools  exhibiting 
the  keenest  joy  in  a  community  clean-up  cam¬ 
paign.  Lawns,  alleys  and  unsightly  places  about 
the  village  or  community  have  been  raked,  set  in 
order  and  made  attractive  through  the  cooperation 
of  children’s  groups  and  adult  rubbish  carts. 

(b)  Appreciation .  There  is  scarcely  any  com¬ 
munity  in  our  own  or  other  lands  that  does  not 
contain  points  of  historical,  industrial,  or  other 
interest.  There  is  some  street,  house,  location  which 
is  noteworthy  for  its  beauty  or  some  other  unusual 
quality.  The  development  of  appreciation  for 
these  community  factors  is  a  part  of  the  work  of 
the  vacation  school.  But  such  appreciation  must 
not  be  blind.  Vacation  school  teachers  will  make 
it  a  point  to  lead  the  children  to  the  discovery  of 
the  needs  of  the  community  for  certain  betterments. 
Perhaps  there  are  over-numerous  misplaced  or 
unsightly  billboards.  Perhaps  handbills  are  care¬ 
lessly  thrown  about  so  that  the  passing  winds  carry 
them  around  to  lawns  and  into  corners,  making 
unsightly  and  unattractive  what  otherwise  might 
be  a  city  or  street  beautiful.  It  may  be  that  lawns 
go  uncared  for,  trees  untrimmed,  birds  unhoused 

106 


HOME,  CHURCH,  AND  COMMUNITY 


or  unprotected.  There  is  probably  no  angle  of 
civic  betterment  or  righteousness  that  may  not 
properly  come  before  the  children  for  consideration. 
Where  this  method  has  been  employed  in  church 
schools,  a  very  noticeable  toning  up  in  civic  morals 
has  been  the  accompaniment.  When  the  present 
problems  receive  the  consideration  of  childhood 
and  youth,  social  reconstruction  is  inevitable. 

In  Japan,  one  of  the  most  interesting  sights  is  to 
see  a  school  teacher  taking  groups  of  school  children 
to  shrines,  temples,  points  of  historical  and  natural 
beauty  and  explaining,  describing  and  developing 
appreciation  for  these  things.  In  many  schools, 
teachers  have  found  local  business  firms  glad  to 
provide  the  use  of  a  truck  or  trucks  for  the  taking 
of  groups  of  children  to  the  more  distant  points 
of  interest. 

(c)  Children’s  work  for  children.  This  affords  a 
most  stimulating  and  attractive  opportunity  for 
community  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  vaca¬ 
tion  church  school.  Day  nurseries,  orphanages, 
hospitals  usually  are  sorely  in  need  of  toys,  pictures, 
and  other  articles  which  children  can  assemble  or 
prepare.  Sending  a  committee  of  the  older  chil¬ 
dren  to  the  institutes  to  learn  the  specific  needs  and 
having  them  report  these  needs  to  the  school  or 
the  section  of  the  school  involved  is  found  to  be  a 
most  stimulating  and  instructive  method  of  develop¬ 
ing  desirable  personal  attitudes  toward  social  serv¬ 
ice  activities. 

(d)  Community  recreation.  Frequently  the  chil¬ 
dren  themselves,  under  proper  leadership,  are  able 
to  prepare  for  a  playground  near  their  school  and 
thus  be  the  initiators  of  a  playground  movement 

107 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


for  a  community  that  is  in  need  of  such.  Pageants, 
plays,  demonstrations  which  bring  instruction,  pleas¬ 
urable  participation,  and  joy  to  parents  are  an 
inevitable  part  of  a  thoroughgoing  vacation  church 
school.  The  closing  day  or  week  of  the  school 
usually  contains  such  activities.  The  exhibit,  in 
a  local  store  window  or  other  public  place,  of  the 
handwork  produced  by  the  pupils  during  the  ses¬ 
sions  of  the  school,  each  article  bearing  the  name 
of  the  pupil  who  made  it,  the  arranging  of  costumes 
for  pageants,  dramatics,  and  other  similar  activ¬ 
ities,  all  of  these  are  elements  in  directly  relating 
the  adult  community  consciousness  to  the  school 
as  such.  The  “comradeship  of  a  common  task” 
thus  developing  out  of  the  actual  program  of  the 
school  is  a  most  desirable  community  relationship. 
Homes,  churches,  peoples,  the  community  find 
mutual  joys  and  helpfulness  because  of  the  vacation 
church  school. 


io8 


CHAPTER  XI 


STANDARDS  AND  MEASUREMENTS  OF 

SUCCESS 

Have  our  objectives  been  reached,  have  our 
goals  been  attained?  This  is  the  question  that 
thoughtful  officers,  teachers,  and  parents  will  ask 
themselves  (and  perhaps  each  other)  as  the  session 
of  the  daily  vacation  church  school  ends. 

Only  in  part  can  the  question  be  answered.  For 
there  are  some  results  sought  and  worked  for  which 
cannot  at  once  be  measured,  indeed  cannot  be 
measured  at  all  by  any  human  tests  we  are  able 
to  apply.  No  one  can  measure  the  extent  to  which 
spiritual  vision  of  childhood  has  been  quickened 
and  the  horizon  of  young  souls  pushed  back  by 
the  religious  truths  taught.  No  one  can  measure 
the  extent  to  which  new  motives  have  been  quick¬ 
ened  and  new  ideals  brought  to  life.  Only  years  of 
living,  perhaps  eternities  of  living,  will  reveal  these 
things. 

Yet  there  are  some  standards  of  results  which 
we  can  fairly  apply,  some  measures  of  success  which 
may  tell  us  the  probable  degree  to  which  we  have 
succeeded  or  failed  in  our  effort  to  accomplish  the 
deep  and  lasting  things  for  Christian  conduct  and 
character.  For,  failing  in  these  more  immediate 
and  tangible  things,  the  chances  are  that  we  have 
failed  in  the  more  ultimate  spiritual  goals;  and, 
succeeding  in  these  more  immediate  and  easily 

109 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


measured  things,  the  probabilities  are  that  we  have 
succeeded  also  in  the  deeper  things. 

The  appeal  to  our  constituency. — Did  the  school 
catch  the  interest,  inspire  the  confidence,  and  re¬ 
ceive  the  support  of  the  parents?  We  work  directly 
upon  childhood,  but,  lacking  the  interested,  enthu¬ 
siastic  cooperation  of  the  homes,  much  waste  and 
loss  in  efficiency  is  sure  to  occur. 

Did  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  available  chil¬ 
dren  enroll  as  we  have  a  right  to  expect?  Did  the 
school  have  enough  pull  with  the  juvenile  com¬ 
munity  to  make  a  comparatively  clean  sweep  into 
its  classes?  Did  the  registration  come  in  at  the 
opening  of  the  term ,  or  did  it  straggle  in  from  day 
to  day  even  up  into  the  last  week  or  two,  as  is  some¬ 
times  the  case  with  loosely  conducted  schools? 

Once  registered,  did  the  children  come  regularly 
and  on  time?  Many  vacation  schools  show  an 
average  attendance  as  low  as  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
enrollment.  This  means  one  or  both  of  two  things; 
either  a  strung-out  registration  scattering  well  into 
the  term,  or  irregular  attendance  after  entrance; 
and  either  is  relative  failure  for  the  school.  We 
cannot  teach  children  who  are  not  there.  Average 
attendance  is  probably  a  more  valid  measure  of  a 
school  than  aggregate  enrollment,  important  as 
this  is. 

The  response  of  pupils  in  conduct. — How  do  the 

children  behave?  Let  it  be  granted  that  we  do 
not  want  our  pupils  to  be  solemn  and  longfaced  in 
the  vacation  church  school.  We  do  not  want 
them  to  think  of  religion  mainly  as  a  system  of 
restraints  and  repressions.  We  desire  the  joyous, 
happy  element  present  in  all  the  child’s  contacts 

no 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SUCCESS 


with  religion.  But  this  does  not  mean  a  spirit  of 
mischief,  smartness,  or  irreverence  in  the  class¬ 
room;  it  does  not  mean  boisterousness  in  the  church; 
it  does  not  mean  disrespect  for  the  authority  of  the 
teacher  and  disregard  for  fitness  of  conduct  in 
the  school. 

It  is  probably  fair  to  say  that  not  a  few  vacation 
schools  show  weakness  at  this  point.  In  fact  it  is 
quite  certain  that  some  of  them  reveal  such  mis¬ 
conduct  and  lack  of  discipline  on  the  part  of  pupils 
that  it  is  a  serious  question  whether  they  should 
not  be  closed  rather  than  to  be  the  means  of  cul¬ 
tivating  in  children  such  habits  of  disrespect  and 
levity  toward  the  church  and  its  enterprises  and 
of  disobedience  toward  teachers  and  officers. 

The  educational  response  of  pupils. — It  is  not 
enough  that  pupils  shall  come  to  the  school  and 
that  they  shall  behave  while  there.  These  two 
conditions  are  only  preliminary  to  a  still  more 
crucial  test  of  the  school:  What  do  we  do  for  the 
pupils  while  they  are  there?  Education  has  been 
defined  as  “producing  desired  changes  in  the  life 
of  the  pupil. ”  What  changes  have  we  made  in  the 
lives  of  our  pupils  through  their  contact  with  the 
vacation  school?  What  have  we  done  to  increase 
their  information  and  knowledge  about  the  Bible 
and  other  religious  literature,  the  church  and  its 
great  enterprises,  the  Christian  Way  of  living  as 
revealed  by  the  Nazarene?  What  have  we  done 
to  quicken  conscience,  create  ideals,  and  train  to 
right  habits  and  attitudes? 

As  we  have  said  before,  these  things,  at  least 
most  of  them,  evade  any  tests  that  wre  can  apply. 
They  would  not  be  revealed,  certainly  not  all  of 

in 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


them,  by  examination  questions  and  score  cards, 
useful  as  these  may  be  in  their  place.  It  is  here 
that  we  must  depend  on  indirect  tests  which,  how¬ 
ever,  are  none  the  less  valid  for  being  indirect: 

(1)  Do  the  pupils  come  to  their  classes  and  the 
various  activities  of  the  school  with  an  attitude  of 
true  expectancy?  Do  they  expect  to  find  the  work 
interesting  and  worth  while?  If  so,  the  battle  for 
results  is  half  won  before  it  is  begun.  For  surely 
none  have  failed  to  observe  that  if  we  go  to  a  ser¬ 
mon,  a  lecture  or  a  concert  with  anticipation,  expect¬ 
ing  to  like  it,  we  are  quite  sure  to  get  more  from 
it  than  if  we  go  indifferent  or  expecting  to  be  bored. 
In  similar  way,  children  who  go  to  the  classroom 
or  the  worship  period  without  anticipation  or 
enthusiasm  have  by  this  very  fact  rendered  their 
minds  and  hearts  in  no  small  degree  impervious  to 
the  influences  we  would  bring  to  bear  upon  them. 
The  degree,  therefore,  to  which  our  school  is  able 
to  arouse  and  maintain  a  state  of  expectancy  in  its 
pupils  from  day  to  day  is  one  of  the  surest  meas¬ 
ures  of  its  educational  success. 

(2)  Do  the  pupils  in  all  the  exercises  of  the  school 
maintain  an  attitude  of  interested  alertness?  Are 
their  minds  awake  and  active?  Do  they  give  respon¬ 
sive  attention  to  instruction  and  to  the  various 
activities  of  the  lessons?  If  we  must  say  no  to  these 
questions  we  have  already  condemned  our  school 
as  to  vital  educational  results.  For  no  sleepy, 
inactive  mind  ever  successfully  takes  on  impres¬ 
sions.  No  mental  activity  such  as  thought  or 
memory  or  imagination  ever  works  effectively  except 
when  attention  is  keen.  No  real  growth  occurs 
where  life  is  lacking. 


11 2 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SUCCESS 


And  there  is  another  side  to  this  in  addition  to 
the  immediate  loss  of  results;  this  is  the  evil  effects 
of  forming  the  habit  of  slack  attention,  of  indiffer¬ 
ence  and  of  dawdling  and  day-dreaming  at  times 
when  alertness  and  concentration  and  effort  are 
demanded.  Every  child  who  sits  through  a  class 
period  in  a  spirit  of  indifference  and  mental  inaction 
is  shackling  his  powers  with  chains  and  laying  up 
a  store  of  trouble  and  inefficiency  for  the  years  that 
lie  ahead.  And  surely  no  school  that  fails  to  call 
forth  the  best  of  the  child’s  capacity  for  interest 
and  effort  can  be  called  a  success,  even  if  this  school 
be  organized  in  the  name  of  religion. 

(3)  Do  the  pupils  respond  with  a  spirit  of  co¬ 
operation ?  Are  they  loyal  to  the  school  with  a 
deep-seated  loyalty?  Is  the  school  their  school,  an 
enterprise  for  which  they  feel  responsibility,  whose 
successes  are  their  honest  pride  and  whose  failures 
are  their  sincere  chagrin? 

A  certain  state  inspector  of  public  schools,  who 
spends  most  of  his  time  visiting  the  actual  work 
of  the  classrooms,  says  that  the  first  item  in  his 
report  on  each  school  is  concerning  its  school  spirit. 
If  this  is  good,  minor  defects  can  be  remedied;  if 
this  is  lacking  nothing  else  can  be  right.  Let  us, 
therefore,  with  our  vacation  school  ask  ourselves 
how  completely  the  pupils  identify  themselves  with 
the  school;  how  deep  down  their  interest  and  loyalty 
go.  Will  they  sacrifice  a  little  if  need  be  for  the 
sake  of  the  school?  Will  they  carry  out  assigned 
tasks,  prepare  assigned  topics,  participate  in  exer¬ 
cises  and  activities  arranged  for  their  class  or  the 
school?  If  we  must  grade  our  school  low  on  these 
points  there  is  something  fundamentally  wrong;  if 

n 3 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


we  can  grade  them  high  on  these  points  we  have 
one  sure  foundation  on  which  to  build. 

(4)  Do  the  pupils  get  a  true  understanding ,  grasp , 
and  reasonable  mastery  of  fundamental  things?  This 
question  assumes  that  our  school,  while  recogniz¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  it  is  a  vacation  school,  aims,  never¬ 
theless,  at  some  serious  educational  results  in  reli¬ 
gious  training.  We  must  be  able,  therefore,  to  say 
that  our  school  does  more  than  to  bring  children 
in  off  the  streets  and  supply  them  with  a  good 
environment;  that  it  does  more  than  amuse  and 
entertain;  that  it  does  more  than  act  as  nursery  or 
social  club  for  the  children  whose  parents  are  chiefly 
concerned  to  know  that  their  offspring  are  safe 
and  in  good  hands. 

Have  the  children  been  taught  lessons  that  are 
suited  to  them  as  children?  Have  they  understood , 
and  have  they  felt  that  they  have  understood? 
Have  the  lessons  been  such  as  to  fit  in  with  their 
own  lives  as  children ,  and  to  influence  their  thought 
and  conduct  now?  Or  have  we  taught  them  things 
in  form  meant  for  grown  minds — strong  meat  for 
babes?  Have  we  bewildered  them  with  thoughts 
too  high  for  them,  and  confused  them  with  lessons 
too  deep  for  them,  and  so  in  the  end  given  them  the 
unconscious  impression  that  religion  is  a  thing  not 
meant  to  be  understood  or  thought  about  in  the 
same  intelligent  way  we  treat  other  things  we 
learn  about?  The  way,  therefore,  our  school  has 
adapted  its  materials  and  methods  of  instruction  to 
the  mind  and  heart  of  childhood,  the  way  it  has 
allowed  the  child  to  “understand  as  a  child,  think 
as  a  child,  speak  as  a  child”  is  one  sure  measure 
of  its  success. 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SUCCESS 


(5)  Do  the  pupils  realize  through  the  school  an 
expanding  consciousness  of  God?  Religion  involves 
loyalty  to  a  code  of  living,  but  it  goes  farther  than 
this;  it  involves  loyalty  to  a  Person — to  Christ. 
We  must  ask  ourselves,  therefore,  Are  these  children 
who  are  in  our  classes  more  clearly  conscious  of 
God  at  work  in  his  world,  of  Christ  as  a  living  pres¬ 
ence?  Do  they  naturally  and  reverently  turn  in 
prayer  and  praise  and  worship  to  a  loving  Father 
and  his  Son,  their  Saviour  and  Brother?  Do  they 
know  how  to  worship,  and  to  what  extent  does  our 
instruction  lead  to  this  end.  In  short,  in  how  far 
have  our  ministrations  rendered  vivid  and  clear  and 
precious  the  God-consciousness  in  the  lives  of  our 
children,  and  taught  them  how  to  attain  unto  that 
consciousness? 

The  vision  and  care  that  go  into  planning  and 
running  of  the  school. — No  vacation  church  school 
will  organize  and  run  itself.  This  enterprise  requires 
unusual  wisdom,  consecration,  and  painstaking  care. 
It  is  not  a  task  for  a  novice,  nor  for  a  careless 
enthusiast,  nor  for  a  busy  and  exhausted  pastor 
who  himself  ought  to  be  taking  a  vacation.  Tests 
of  wisdom  and  vision  in  the  planning  and  running 
of  the  school  will  come  out  at  such  points  as  these: 

(1)  The  financial  provisions  made.  Does  the 
church  try  to  make  the  vacation  school  a  charity 
school?  Does  it  fail  to  provide  for  this,  one  of  its 
most  important  responsibilities,  by  a  special  “drive” 
for  funds?  And  does  it  limit  the  amount  to  be 
expended  below  the  efficiency  point?  This  is  often 
done,  with,  the  following  results: 

Teachers  are  expected  to  contribute  their  services 
or  work  for  next  to  nothing. 

115 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


Pupils  are  not  supplied  with  necessary  textbooks , 
the  teacher  alone  being  supplied  with  a  book,  the 
pupils  receiving  their  instruction  orally  from  the 
teacher.  Imagine  such  a  system  in  the  public 
school!  There  the  parent  or  the  school  district  is 
not  too  poor  to  provide  books  for  the  child  to  study. 
Only  when  we  come  to  religion  must  we  haggle  and 
economize  and  squeeze  our  pennies  in  supplying 
necessary  materials  for  the  child’s  education! 

Proper  equipment  and  supplies  are  lacking.  More 
than  one  vacation  school  is  short  on  necessary 
seating,  tables,  maps,  pictures,  handcraft  materials, 
and  other  such  necessary  adjuncts  to  good  class¬ 
room  work  with  children.  It  may  be  better  to  run 
on  this  meager  basis  than  not  to  run  at  all,  but  we 
shall  have  to  mark  our  school  low  in  efficiency  on 
this  factor  unless  it  has  seen  the  futility  of  attempt¬ 
ing  to  make  bricks  without  straw  here  as  in  other 
lines  of  education.  Edward  Bok  says  he  believes 
in  poverty,  but  only  as  a  condition  to  get  away  from. 
Our  indefensibly  low  and  uncertain  standards  of 
expenditure  for  things  religious  in  the  training  of 
the  child  are  in  any  degree  tolerable  only  as  a  con¬ 
dition  to  get  away  from. 

(2)  The  educational  standards  and  skill  going  into 
the  management  of  the  school.  This  will  manifest 
itself  from  the  first  day  of  planning  for  the  coming 
session  to  the  final  day  when  the  term  is  out,  the 
records  all  made  and  filed,  all  bills  paid  and  accounts 
audited,  and  notes  of  comment  and  suggestion 
recorded  for  the  guidance  of  those  planning  the 
next  year’s  session.  Is  our  program  right  for  the 
school  as  a  whole;  our  daily  program  right;  our 
system  of  records  and  accounting  right;  our  system 

1 16 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SUCCESS 


of  supervision  right?  This  is  all  to  ask  whether 
our  school  is  on  a  real  business  and  professional 
basis,  or  whether  it  is  a  haphazard  affair,  run  on 
good  intentions  and  devotion  but  without  skill  and 
efficiency. 

The  teaching  force. — It  is  a  fine  and  inspiring 
thing  that  we  find  so  many  earnest  and  consecrated 
persons  willing  to  give  time  and  effort  to  the  vacation 
church  school  with  little  or  no  compensation.  Yet 
the  very  fact  of  this  free  or  low-paid  service  intro¬ 
duces  a  danger  and  promises  a  difficulty  that  all 
schools  need  to  guard  against.  For,  while  not  a 
little  of  the  teaching  and  supervision  of  the  vaca¬ 
tion  school  is  of  high  grade  and  beyond  criticism, 
this  can  hardly  be  said  to  characterize  these  schools 
as  a  whole. 

Too  often  have  the  classes  of  the  vacation  school 
been  in  charge  of  young  and  inexperienced  girls 
who  are  imbued  with  the  desire  to  serve,  and  who 
have  offered  their  services  free  or  been  drafted 
into  the  work.  Let  it  be  understood  that  this  is 
not  meant  to  reflect  on  this  group  except  at  a  point 
where  they  are  not  in  the  least  at  fault;  namely, 
their  youth  and  consequent  lack  of  skill.  Many 
of  them  have  little  background  of  knowledge  of 
what  they  are  required  to  teach  and  no  trained 
technique  for  its  presentation.  Neither  have  they 
had  experience  in  the  discipline  and  control  of  groups 
of  children.  The  result  of  this  blind  teaching  of 
the  blind  is  lack  of  interest  in  the  lessons  on  the 
part  of  the  children,  mischief  and  misconduct  in 
the  classroom,  and  the  consequent  inefficiency  of 
the  whole  process. 

But  not  all  poor  teaching  is  done  by  the  young 

lI7 


THE  DAILY  VACATION  CHURCH  SCHOOL 


and  inexperienced.  Some  persons  of  very  fine 
Christian  character  and  a  fine  devotion  which  leads 
them  to  offer  their  services  free  to  the  vacation 
school  are  nevertheless  poor  teachers — poor  because 
they  do  not  understand  childhood  and  its  capacity 
for  religion,  poor  because  they  have  not  learned 
the  technique  of  the  modern  classroom.  Nor, 
should  it  be  remarked,  is  the  vacation  school  teach¬ 
ing  problem  solved  when  a  devoted  but  overworked 
pastor,  more  skilled  in  theology  and  exegesis  than 
in  the  pedagogy  of  childhood,  offers  his  services 
and  takes  up  the  burden. 

We  shall  have  to  score  our  school  low  on  teach¬ 
ing  efficiency  if  we  cannot  provide  for  our  children 
as  good  instruction  as  that  to  which  they  are  accus¬ 
tomed  in  the  public  schools. 

The  school  sense  of  social  interest  and  respon¬ 
sibility. — Has  it  made  better  citizens  of  the  com¬ 
munity  as  well  as  of  the  Kingdom?  Has  it  con¬ 
veyed  the  idea  to  its  pupils  that  children  have  their 
part  in  making  their  neighborhood  a  desirable  place 
to  live,  keeping  it  clean  and  healthful,  enhancing  its 
beauty?  Have  the  children  come  to  feel  in  some 
degree  that  they  are  their  brother’s  keeper?  Are 
they  more  ready  to  discover  and  relieve  need  or 
distress?  Has  the  work  of  the  school  broadened 
their  feeling  of  kinship  for  those  of  other  lands  and 
races  and  quickened  their  sympathies  for  all  the 
human  brotherhood  of  which  they  are  members? 

The  way  the  work  of  the  school  has  related  itself 
to  other  religious  agencies  serving  the  child. — The 
vacation  church  school  may  run  for  but  a  few 
weeks,  but  the  life  of  the  child  goes  on  continuously. 
When  our  session  ends  there  is  no  more  of  it  until 

118 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SUCCESS 


the  next  summer,  but  the  church,  the  Sunday 
school,  the  home  are  in  session  all  the  year.  Has 
our  work  definitely  related  itself  to  these  agencies? 
Probably  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
vacation  school  pupils  who  come  to  us  do  not 
attend  any  church  or  Sunday  school;  what  have 
our  instruction  and  our  influence  done  to  lead 
these  pupils  to  affiliation  with  these  institutions? 
To  what  extent  have  our  leadership  and  stimulus 
reached  out  to  the  homes,  quickened  their  interest 
in  religion  and  the  church,  and  led  to  more  faithful 
performance  of  duty  in  these  directions?  Our 
answers  to  such  questions  as  these  will  go  far  toward 
revealing  the  success  of  our  vacation  church  school. 


\ 


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